Spring Giveaway

We’re doing a giveaway over on our Instagram and Facebook pages, so I wanted to share with you my reviews of the two books we will be giving away to one lucky winner.

The first book in the giveaway is The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, written by Ann Fessler (published 2006) is a collection of interviews with women whose children were adopted post WWII and into the early 1970s. In the book, the author details some of her own experience as an adoptee, her search for her first mother, and her passion for bringing truth to light by sharing the stories of first mothers.

The book contains full interviews from women detailing their pregnancy and relinquishment, excerpts from interviews, as well as the author’s dialogue about events during this time period. Each woman’s story is different but there are reoccurring themes. There was so much shame and secrecy surrounding an unplanned pregnancy of an unmarried girl, in these days, that many of these girls were forced into hiding to protect the reputation of the family and the daughter. In general many of these women were often “sent away”, given no explanation of their rights, “forced” into relinquishing by intimidation, abuse and lack of support to parent.

I believe this book is a MUST READ for anyone pursuing domestic infant adoption. I would be so bold as to say that agencies who are facilitating domestic infant adoption should have it in their training requirements prior to adopting. It is vital that we understand the history of the process we are engaging in so that we can go into it with a good understanding of the risks of coercion, stigma, need for support to parent, and the money-making business.

The second book we are giving away is Heart Picked: Elizabeth’s Adoption Tale written by Sara Crutcher and illustrated by Romney Vasquez (published 2015). This book is unique because it is written by an adult adoptee. I love learning from adoptees- they are the experts on the adoption experience. They are the adoptive parent’s best resource for how a child might feel about their adoption. The book discusses a young girl’s conflicting emotions as she and her parents head into “family week” at school. She talks about her fear of what her friends may think of her family and how her parents help her understand adoption.

It is pro-adoption and simply written and does not touch on adoption loss or first families. I like to ensure a full picture of adoption by expressing loss alongside the beauty of adoption, but adoptees get to give their account here without pushback at our house. It is a great addition to our library which holds other books that better express the complexity, so we are happy to enjoy its simplicity.

Heart Picked is appropriate for kids preschool aged and up. Pretty much anything written by adoptees, I am happy to have on my bookshelf. These may the voices of our children as adults. However, I feel like this should not be the only narrative of adoption your kids are hearing. It is not complex enough to do justice to the complexities of adoption.

Thanks for reading. As always, I hope these reviews help you as you elevate adoptee voices in your home and seek to have deep, meaningful dialogue on what adoption means in your home. If you order either of these books through the links on this page it helps me continue reviewing and posting new books. I do not own rights to or offer any type of guarantee for these purchases. Find more books written by adoptees HERE and view my Shopping Pages for more easy links to great books for your family. All the books I link to here are books I recommend- I do not post links to books I think would be hurtful to the precious adoptees in your family.

Love from my home to yours,

Lanaya

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