Adoption Books
“Adopting after Infertility” by Patricia Irwin Johnston (Perspective Press, 1992)
By the acknowledged expert in the field, this book examines the lifelong impact of building a family by adoption after having experienced infertility.
“The Adoption Resource Book” by Lois Gilman (HarperCollins, 1992)
This guide covers all aspects of adoption from learning about adoption through preparing for your child and raising an adopted child. It includes checklists of procedures and paperwork, and questions to ask at each step along the way.
“Are Those Kids Yours? American Families with Children Adopted from Other Countries” by Cheri Register (The Free Press, 1991)
The author’s interviews with many parents and adoptees make this an excellent, comprehensive overview of the joys and challenges of living in and parenting an international family.
“An Empty Lap” by Jill Smolowe (Pocket Books, 1997)
Subtitled “One Couple’s Journey to Parenthood,” this book is an intensely personal exploration of decision-making as Jill and husband Joe confront, individually and as a couple, the very real emotional perils of decisions concerning whether or not to parent, pursuing infertility treatment, and adoption.
“How to Adopt Internationally” by Jean Nelson-Erichsen, Heino R. Erichsen-2002
How to Adopt Internationally is organized around 23 easy-to-follow steps that lead readers through every phase of the international adoption process from finding an agency and organizing a home study to choosing a country to adopt from, working through emigration and immigration, traveling abroad, and adjusting to a new life with a child.
“Launching a Baby’s Adoption: Practical Strategies for Parents and Professionals” by Patricia Irwin Johnston (Perspectives Press, 1997)
From psychologically preparing for your new baby through the practical matters of adding a new household member, this book will help you ease the transitions a new baby always brings.
“When Friends Ask About Adoption: Question and Answer Guide for Non-Adoptive Parents and Other Caring Adults” by Linda Bothun (Swan Publications, 1996)
This little guide will help you know how to answer all those questions about adoption that you will be receiving. It’s the perfect gift for prospective grandparents, too.
“Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self” by David Brodzinsky, Marshall Schechter and Robin Henig (Doubleday, 1993)
This book by some of adoption’s foremost researchers explores the inner world of adoptees as they develop, nature, and seek answers to questions of loss and identity.
“Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss” by Claudia L. Jewett-Jarratt (Harvard Common Press, 1994)
This book provides many practical techniques for easing a child through the normal stages of grieving.
“How to Raise an Adopted Child” by Judith Schaffer and Christina Lindstrom (NAL/Dutton, 1991)
This book addresses many concerns of parents and children as they grow. It is meant to be reread and consulted over the years.
“Is Adoption for You? : The Information You Need to Make the Right Choice” by Christine A. Adamec (Wiley, 1998)
Would adopting a child be a good choice for you? Would you want to adopt an infant or an older child? What about a child from another country? A child of another race? Would you be willing to adopt a child with medical problems? Could you agree to involvement and openness with the birthmother? Would you be better off working with an agency or an attorney? Do you have to be married? How much does it really cost?
“Raising Adopted Children: A Manual for Adoptive Parents” by Lois Ruskau Melina (HarperCollins, 1986)
This comprehensive guide to the special parenting issues of children who joined their families through adoption is especially strong in its coverage of research on adopted children and its positive results.
“Real Parents, Real Children: Parenting the Adopted Child” by Holly van Gulden and Lisa M. Bartels-Rabb (Crossroads, 1993)
Indispensable to understanding how adopted children commonly think about and understand adoption, this book offers practical advice from bonding with an adopted baby to adolescent issues, and everything in between.
“The Family of Adoption” by Joyce Maguire Pavao (Beacon, 1998)
Full of wonderful stories that give insight into a wide variety of adoption issues, and now updated with a consideration of recent developments, The Family of Adoption is a powerful argument for the right kind of openness; it is truly the most insightful and healing book on the adoption shelf.
“Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents” by Deborah D. Gray (Perspectives Press, 2002)
Gray, a clinical social worker specializing in attachment, grief and trauma, has penned a comprehensive guidebook for adoptive parents, taking an in-depth look at how children and families adjust.
“Talking with Young Children about Adoption” by Mary Watkins and Susan Fisher (Yale University Press, 1995)
Explaining adoption to your child is not an event, but rather a process that unfolds as your child grows. The authors show you what to expect and how to handle the questions that your child asks at each stage, as well as those that remain unasked.
“Parenting Your Adopted Child: A Positive Approach to Building a Strong Family” by Andrew Adesman, Christine Adamec (McGraw-Hill, 2004)
Parents of adopted children face some unique challenges in addition to all the “regular” issues that come with being a parent. Parenting Your Adopted Child provides helpful tools that enable families to understand and counter common myths about adoption that may be harmful to their children. It also clearly demonstrates how parents can effectively tailor their parenting approach to suit their child’s distinct needs.
“Toddler Adoption: The Weaver’s Craft” by Mary Hopkins-Best (Perspective Press, 1998)
When a child is adopted as a toddler, his needs and those of his adoptive family are different from the needs seen in infant or school-age adoptions. In this work, Hopkins-Best, a child development expert and mother of a child adopted as a toddler, provides a guidebook for those considering toddler adoption or those already struggling with its special challenges.
“Your Baby and Child” by Penelope Leach (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997)
A popular parenting book by a psychologist who emphasizes building an strong bond with your child by responding fully to his or her needs.
Children with Special Needs
“Adopting the Hurt Child” by Gregory C. Keck and Regina M. Kupecky (Pinon Press, 1995)
Written by two of the foremost authorities on attachment problems, this book gives hope and encouragement to parents whose children resist attachment.
“Adopting the Older Child” by Claudia L. Jewett (Harvard Common Press, 1978)
This book is still the classic volume for families adopting or considering adopting an older child, filled with caring advice on handling the transition form “honeymoon” period to testing phase to full integration into the new family
“Adoption and the Sexually Abused Child” by Bernard and Joan McNamara, editors (University of Southern Maine, 1990)
This collection of articles about children who have been sexually abused contains helpful suggestions for parenting a child who acts out sexually or suffers from flashbacks. The book includes an extensive listing of resources.
“A Child’s Journey through Placement” by Vera Fahlberg, M.D. (Perspectives Press, 1991)
This look at the life experiences many children have endured before their adoption includes an excellent section on behavior management, which will especially benefit parents whose children are making painful transitions.
“Don’t Touch My Heart: Healing the Pain of an Unattached Child” by Lynda G. Mansfield and Christopher H. Waldmann (Pinon Press, 1994)
This story of Jonathan, a child with attachment disorder, provides insights into beneficialtherapies as well as hope for families of children who have an inability to trust due to early abuse and neglect.
“Reaching Out to Children with FAS/FAE: A Handbook for Teachers, Counselors, and Parents Who Live and Work with Children Affected by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effect” by Diane Davis (Center for Applied Research in Education, 1994)
“Troubled Transplant” by Richard J. Delaney and Frank R. Kunstal (Wood’n Barnes, 1993)
This book provides strategies and insights on helping children with behavior difficulties and their families.
Single Parent Adoption
“The Handbook for Single Adoptive Parents” by Hope Marindin, editor (National Council for Single adoptive Parents, 1996)
This collection of essays on single adoptive parenting, from ho to adopt through time and money management, provides ad good mix of practical information and individual adoption experiences.
“In Praise of Single Parents: Mothers and Fathers Embracing the Challenge by Shoshana Alexander (Houghton Mifflin, 1994)”
A helpful book with many stories of successful single parenting.
“On Our Own: Unmarried Motherhood in America” by Melissa Ludtke (Random house, 1997)
The author, who adopted a child from China and interviewed other single mothers, has written a book about her journey of decision-making and that of the other mothers, and with researchers relearning about the children of single mothers and parents.
