The Family of Adoption: Completely Revised and Updated

This is a MUST READ for truly understanding adoption from the adoptee's perspective.I highly recommend this book as it provides so many insightful examples and firsthand stories of how to help love and nuture your adopted child with knowledge of themselves and their birth family. It helps put the child first.Conventional wisdom of closed adoptions needs to be challenged. How can a person live a rich, full, and productive life with so many unanswered questions?Let your child be the connection between two families (birth & adoptive), and honor who they are.

The book makes a good case that the way we handle adoptions needs to be more concerned with everyone involved. I agree with its assertion that we need to make sure the child and the family are a good fit together. However, I was looking for some advice and help with some of the topics; and I felt like the main purpose of the book was as an advertisement for their center. Not exactly what I was looking for.

This was a recommendation from my sister in law as we prepared for our adoption. It was helpful in identifying some potential challenges adoptive children and parents may face, but because of the writer's position as a counselor for adoptive families, tends to the more negative. Hearing adoption "success" stories can be equally as effective. She focuses more on what NOT to do than on tools and advice on how to help children and families adjust.

Homework

Should be required reading for any adoptive family. Thanks so much.

This is a book backed up by years of experience as a professional working in adoption counseling. Worthwhile reading for anyone struggling with adoption related problems.

Originally bought this book for a class & loved it! Highly recommend.

A great, in-depth, and accurate view of what adoption looks like and the issues that can arise

I found this book fairly shallow. It mixes theory with stories of adoptions and covers neither in enough depth. The author makes a few good points, but not enough to make the book worth buying. For those interested in true life adoption stories I recommed reading "The Adoption Experience", in which various adopters, adoptees and birth parents describe their experiences in their own words. If you are interested in theories, there are lots of books looking at the adoption experience within an attachment theory, psychoanalytical etc. framework like "The Emotional Experience of Adoption" and "Attachment Handbook". "The Family of Adoption" is an easy read, but it just lacks meat.