A comprehensive list of adoption resources including podcasts, search angels, organizations, and events.
EVENTS
Blue Plastic Cow: One Woman’s Search for Her Birth Mother
This is the true story of Barbara’s adoption by a family who lived in a town on the banks of the River Mersey. They were a loving family but Barbara always felt different. Her mother, Florrie, never wanted her to know the truth. At age 12, after Barbara accidentally discovered that she was adopted, Florrie lied to her about her birth mother, Carole, and the facts surrounding her birth.
As a teenager, unable to deal with the shock of what she’d learned, she rebelled against her parents, finding solace in the exciting 1960s’ Liverpool music scene. Against her parents’ wishes, she got a job in Liverpool as a secretary. She went to lunch time sessions at the Cavern where she saw The Beatles, and often stayed out late in Liverpool drinking.
Decades later, Barbara discovered tear stained letters from her birth mother, containing heart-breaking words that would send her on a challenging 26-year quest to find Carole and discover the secret of the blue plastic cow.
Unraveling Your Adoption Journey: Journal Prompts for the Adoptee’s Journey
Ready to dive deep into your adoption journey? My journal, Unraveling Your Adoption Journey, was created with adoptees in mind—those of us navigating identity, trust, and belonging. It’s more than just a journal; it’s a space to process your emotions, dig into your story, and explore who you really are, all while feeling seen and understood.
With each prompt, you’ll have the chance to reflect, get creative, and truly explore the layers of your own narrative. Whether you’re wrestling with issues of identity, trust, abandonment, or just trying to make sense of the complex emotions around adoption, this journal helps you make space for those feelings and encourages you to dive deeper into what makes you, you.
Inside, you’ll find a blend of thoughtful exercises and prompts that not only encourage self-reflection but also help you express yourself in ways that feel right for you. It’s a way to unravel your story piece by piece and make peace with it, reconnecting with your true self along the way.
Whether you’re just starting to explore your adoption journey or looking for a new perspective, this journal offers guidance, comfort, and a reminder that you’re not alone in your experience. Unraveling Your Adoption Journey empowers you to reclaim your narrative, embrace your story, and find a sense of belonging that feels authentic to you.
Open it up, and let this be the start of your healing, your self-discovery, and your journey toward acceptance and understanding.
20 Life-Transforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make, Second Edition
As an adoptee, do you have mixed feelings about your adoption? Sherrie Eldridge is an adoptee and adoption expert, and in this book she draws on her personal experiences and feelings relating to adoption as well as interviews with over 70 adoptees. Sherrie reveals how you can discover your own unique life purpose and worth, and sets out 20 life-transforming choices which you have the power to make. The choices will help you discover answers about issues such as: Why do I feel guilty when I think about my birth parents? Why can’t I talk about the painful aspects of adoption? Where can I gain an unshakable sense of self-esteem? Sherrie also addresses the problem of depression among adoptees and common dilemmas such as if, when and how to contact a birth mother or father. This fully updated second edition includes new material on finding support online, contacting family through social media, and features three new chapters, including Sherrie’s story of reuniting with her birth brother, Jon, in adulthood.
Two Hearts: An Adoptee’s Journey Through Grief to Gratitude
Linda Hoye was in her early twenties when she found herself parentless for the second time. Adopted at five months of age, her heritage, medical history, and access to information about who she was or where she came from was sealed. It was as if she had never existed before being adopted.When she was barely in her twenties her adoptive parents died and a pattern of loss was put into motion that would continue for years as, one by one, those she called family were torn from her life.Two Hearts charts a course through a complex series of relationships stemming from the author’s adoptive family, her maternal and paternal birth families, and an abusive marriage as the author seeks the one thing she so desperately wants: family.She knows she must come to terms with the bitterness she harbors toward her birth mother when she becomes a grandmother and, soon after, faces the loss of the last remaining members of her adoptive family. She makes one final attempt to find something that will give her the sense of rightness that eluded her for so long.This is the story of a woman’s journey through unfathomable grief, of what it takes to go into the abyss of deep-seated wounding, to feel the pain, and to come out the other side. Whole, healed, and thankful.
Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity
In 1961 Paige was put up for adoption, a more taboo and secretive topic than it is today. Paige’s adoptive family chose not to focus on the adoption, but instead function as a regular family with natural children. However, being adopted made her feel vulnerable and unreal. She longed to know more about her true self. In Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity, Paige tells stories from the perspective of a child and adolescent, growing up with a closely guarded secret. Through vignettes, Paige relates feelings about her adoption to forming and maintaining relationships, caring for pets, moving to new houses and neighborhoods, losing loved ones and entering young adulthood. Her need for acceptance is juxtaposed with her adoptive father’s increasingly erratic behavior. This is a tale of family joys and hardships, friendships, falling in love and the need to belong. It is set in the era of free love, social unrest and unexpected change during the 1960s, 70s and 80s
Adopting Privilege: A Memoir of Reinventing My Adoptee Narrative
Adopting Privilege is Dr. Hasberry’s attempt at not only reckoning with her past, but offering unfiltered guidance to other transracial adoptees, and the larger adoption community, navigating what it means to exist in a familial limbo while also discovering what it means to simply exist.
Abigail Hasberry is no stranger to adoption. As both a Black adoptee to a white family, and a birth mother, her intimate understanding of this experience has shaped her career as both a therapist and transracial adoption scholar. However, the intricacies of transracial adoption narratives leave much to be discovered, and with stories often shared from the perspective of the adoptive family, the most affected group—the adoptees—are often left to fend for themselves in their own self discoveries.
If you know of an event you would like added to this list, email me at [email protected].
PODCASTS
If you know of a podcast you would like added to this list, email me at [email protected].
BOOKS
The Family of Adoption: Completely Revised and Updated
Full of wonderful stories that give insight into a wide variety of adoption issues, now revised in light of recent developments, The Family of Adoption is a powerful argument for the right kind of openness in adoption. Joyce Maguire Pavao uses her thirty years of experience as a family and adoption therapist to explain to adoptive parents, birthparents, adult adopted people, and extended family, as well as to those who work with children professionally the developmental stages and challenges one can expect in the life of the adopted person. The Family of Adoption is truly the most insightful and healing book on the adoption shelf.
Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship
Belonging Matters supports the adoption community while creating a conversation with those not directly touched by adoption. The collection explores the pursuit of identity and the boundaries of family and kinship. It challenges the reader to embrace all of who we come to be, and to discern with whom and where we belong. Because belonging defines the human experience, and it is what nourishes our spirit, fuels us with purpose, and compels us to soar beyond the limitations of our lived experience.
Blue Plastic Cow: One Woman’s Search for Her Birth Mother
This is the true story of Barbara’s adoption by a family who lived in a town on the banks of the River Mersey. They were a loving family but Barbara always felt different. Her mother, Florrie, never wanted her to know the truth. At age 12, after Barbara accidentally discovered that she was adopted, Florrie lied to her about her birth mother, Carole, and the facts surrounding her birth.
As a teenager, unable to deal with the shock of what she’d learned, she rebelled against her parents, finding solace in the exciting 1960s’ Liverpool music scene. Against her parents’ wishes, she got a job in Liverpool as a secretary. She went to lunch time sessions at the Cavern where she saw The Beatles, and often stayed out late in Liverpool drinking.
Decades later, Barbara discovered tear stained letters from her birth mother, containing heart-breaking words that would send her on a challenging 26-year quest to find Carole and discover the secret of the blue plastic cow.
Unraveling Your Adoption Journey: Journal Prompts for the Adoptee’s Journey
Ready to dive deep into your adoption journey? My journal, Unraveling Your Adoption Journey, was created with adoptees in mind—those of us navigating identity, trust, and belonging. It’s more than just a journal; it’s a space to process your emotions, dig into your story, and explore who you really are, all while feeling seen and understood.
With each prompt, you’ll have the chance to reflect, get creative, and truly explore the layers of your own narrative. Whether you’re wrestling with issues of identity, trust, abandonment, or just trying to make sense of the complex emotions around adoption, this journal helps you make space for those feelings and encourages you to dive deeper into what makes you, you.
Inside, you’ll find a blend of thoughtful exercises and prompts that not only encourage self-reflection but also help you express yourself in ways that feel right for you. It’s a way to unravel your story piece by piece and make peace with it, reconnecting with your true self along the way.
Whether you’re just starting to explore your adoption journey or looking for a new perspective, this journal offers guidance, comfort, and a reminder that you’re not alone in your experience. Unraveling Your Adoption Journey empowers you to reclaim your narrative, embrace your story, and find a sense of belonging that feels authentic to you.
Open it up, and let this be the start of your healing, your self-discovery, and your journey toward acceptance and understanding.
20 Life-Transforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make, Second Edition
As an adoptee, do you have mixed feelings about your adoption? Sherrie Eldridge is an adoptee and adoption expert, and in this book she draws on her personal experiences and feelings relating to adoption as well as interviews with over 70 adoptees. Sherrie reveals how you can discover your own unique life purpose and worth, and sets out 20 life-transforming choices which you have the power to make. The choices will help you discover answers about issues such as: Why do I feel guilty when I think about my birth parents? Why can’t I talk about the painful aspects of adoption? Where can I gain an unshakable sense of self-esteem? Sherrie also addresses the problem of depression among adoptees and common dilemmas such as if, when and how to contact a birth mother or father. This fully updated second edition includes new material on finding support online, contacting family through social media, and features three new chapters, including Sherrie’s story of reuniting with her birth brother, Jon, in adulthood.
Two Hearts: An Adoptee’s Journey Through Grief to Gratitude
Linda Hoye was in her early twenties when she found herself parentless for the second time. Adopted at five months of age, her heritage, medical history, and access to information about who she was or where she came from was sealed. It was as if she had never existed before being adopted.When she was barely in her twenties her adoptive parents died and a pattern of loss was put into motion that would continue for years as, one by one, those she called family were torn from her life.Two Hearts charts a course through a complex series of relationships stemming from the author’s adoptive family, her maternal and paternal birth families, and an abusive marriage as the author seeks the one thing she so desperately wants: family.She knows she must come to terms with the bitterness she harbors toward her birth mother when she becomes a grandmother and, soon after, faces the loss of the last remaining members of her adoptive family. She makes one final attempt to find something that will give her the sense of rightness that eluded her for so long.This is the story of a woman’s journey through unfathomable grief, of what it takes to go into the abyss of deep-seated wounding, to feel the pain, and to come out the other side. Whole, healed, and thankful.
Blue Plastic Cow: One Woman’s Search for Her Birth Mother
This is the true story of Barbara’s adoption by a family who lived in a town on the banks of the River Mersey. They were a loving family but Barbara always felt different. Her mother, Florrie, never wanted her to know the truth. At age 12, after Barbara accidentally discovered that she was adopted, Florrie lied to her about her birth mother, Carole, and the facts surrounding her birth.
As a teenager, unable to deal with the shock of what she’d learned, she rebelled against her parents, finding solace in the exciting 1960s’ Liverpool music scene. Against her parents’ wishes, she got a job in Liverpool as a secretary. She went to lunch time sessions at the Cavern where she saw The Beatles, and often stayed out late in Liverpool drinking.
Decades later, Barbara discovered tear stained letters from her birth mother, containing heart-breaking words that would send her on a challenging 26-year quest to find Carole and discover the secret of the blue plastic cow.
Unraveling Your Adoption Journey: Journal Prompts for the Adoptee’s Journey
Ready to dive deep into your adoption journey? My journal, Unraveling Your Adoption Journey, was created with adoptees in mind—those of us navigating identity, trust, and belonging. It’s more than just a journal; it’s a space to process your emotions, dig into your story, and explore who you really are, all while feeling seen and understood.
With each prompt, you’ll have the chance to reflect, get creative, and truly explore the layers of your own narrative. Whether you’re wrestling with issues of identity, trust, abandonment, or just trying to make sense of the complex emotions around adoption, this journal helps you make space for those feelings and encourages you to dive deeper into what makes you, you.
Inside, you’ll find a blend of thoughtful exercises and prompts that not only encourage self-reflection but also help you express yourself in ways that feel right for you. It’s a way to unravel your story piece by piece and make peace with it, reconnecting with your true self along the way.
Whether you’re just starting to explore your adoption journey or looking for a new perspective, this journal offers guidance, comfort, and a reminder that you’re not alone in your experience. Unraveling Your Adoption Journey empowers you to reclaim your narrative, embrace your story, and find a sense of belonging that feels authentic to you.
Open it up, and let this be the start of your healing, your self-discovery, and your journey toward acceptance and understanding.
20 Life-Transforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make, Second Edition
As an adoptee, do you have mixed feelings about your adoption? Sherrie Eldridge is an adoptee and adoption expert, and in this book she draws on her personal experiences and feelings relating to adoption as well as interviews with over 70 adoptees. Sherrie reveals how you can discover your own unique life purpose and worth, and sets out 20 life-transforming choices which you have the power to make. The choices will help you discover answers about issues such as: Why do I feel guilty when I think about my birth parents? Why can’t I talk about the painful aspects of adoption? Where can I gain an unshakable sense of self-esteem? Sherrie also addresses the problem of depression among adoptees and common dilemmas such as if, when and how to contact a birth mother or father. This fully updated second edition includes new material on finding support online, contacting family through social media, and features three new chapters, including Sherrie’s story of reuniting with her birth brother, Jon, in adulthood.
Two Hearts: An Adoptee’s Journey Through Grief to Gratitude
Linda Hoye was in her early twenties when she found herself parentless for the second time. Adopted at five months of age, her heritage, medical history, and access to information about who she was or where she came from was sealed. It was as if she had never existed before being adopted.When she was barely in her twenties her adoptive parents died and a pattern of loss was put into motion that would continue for years as, one by one, those she called family were torn from her life.Two Hearts charts a course through a complex series of relationships stemming from the author’s adoptive family, her maternal and paternal birth families, and an abusive marriage as the author seeks the one thing she so desperately wants: family.She knows she must come to terms with the bitterness she harbors toward her birth mother when she becomes a grandmother and, soon after, faces the loss of the last remaining members of her adoptive family. She makes one final attempt to find something that will give her the sense of rightness that eluded her for so long.This is the story of a woman’s journey through unfathomable grief, of what it takes to go into the abyss of deep-seated wounding, to feel the pain, and to come out the other side. Whole, healed, and thankful.
Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity
In 1961 Paige was put up for adoption, a more taboo and secretive topic than it is today. Paige’s adoptive family chose not to focus on the adoption, but instead function as a regular family with natural children. However, being adopted made her feel vulnerable and unreal. She longed to know more about her true self. In Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity, Paige tells stories from the perspective of a child and adolescent, growing up with a closely guarded secret. Through vignettes, Paige relates feelings about her adoption to forming and maintaining relationships, caring for pets, moving to new houses and neighborhoods, losing loved ones and entering young adulthood. Her need for acceptance is juxtaposed with her adoptive father’s increasingly erratic behavior. This is a tale of family joys and hardships, friendships, falling in love and the need to belong. It is set in the era of free love, social unrest and unexpected change during the 1960s, 70s and 80s
Adopting Privilege: A Memoir of Reinventing My Adoptee Narrative
Adopting Privilege is Dr. Hasberry’s attempt at not only reckoning with her past, but offering unfiltered guidance to other transracial adoptees, and the larger adoption community, navigating what it means to exist in a familial limbo while also discovering what it means to simply exist.
Abigail Hasberry is no stranger to adoption. As both a Black adoptee to a white family, and a birth mother, her intimate understanding of this experience has shaped her career as both a therapist and transracial adoption scholar. However, the intricacies of transracial adoption narratives leave much to be discovered, and with stories often shared from the perspective of the adoptive family, the most affected group—the adoptees—are often left to fend for themselves in their own self discoveries.
Adult Adoptees and Writing to Heal: Migrating Toward Wholeness
Adult Adoptees and Writing to Heal shares the framework and method of using writing as a practice for adult adoptees, therapists, teachers, and researchers interested in learning how to migrate and heal embodied trauma. It analyzes lived experience and the author’s own writing to develop a methodology for moving toward wholeness by writing and speaking the truth of internal adoptee experiences.
The Story You Need to Tell
A practical and inspiring guide to transformational personal storytelling, The Story You Need to Tell is the product of Sandra Marinella’s pioneering work with veterans and cancer patients, her years of teaching writing, and her research into its profound healing properties. Riveting true stories illustrate Marinella’s methods for understanding, telling, and editing personal stories in ways that foster resilience and renewal.
No Bad Parts
Discover an empowering new way of understanding your multifaceted mind – and healing the many parts that make you who you are.
The Primal Wound
The Primal Wound is a seminal work which revolutionizes the way we think about adoption. It describes and clarifies the effects of separating babies from their birth mothers as a primal loss which affects the relationships of the adopted person throughout life.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Workbook
We’re all a product of our childhood, and if you’re like most people, you have experienced some form of childhood trauma. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at the root of nearly all mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachement
n this groundbreaking book, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Amir Levine and psychologist Rachel S. F. Heller reveal how an understanding of attachment theory-the most advanced relationship science in existence today-can help us find and sustain love.
Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanancy
Based on a hugely successful US model, the Seven Core Issues in Adoption is the first conceptual framework of its kind to offer a unifying lens that was inclusive of all individuals touched by the adoption experience.
When the Past is Present: Healing the emotional wounds that Sabotage our Relationships
The popular author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships reveals how past trauma can negatively impact our present-day relationships—and offers guidance on what to do about it
Healing the Child Within
Here, frontline physician and therapist Charles Whitfield describes the process of wounding that the Child Within (True Self) experiences and shows how to differentiate the True Self from the false self.
Coming Home to Self: The Adoped Child Grow up
Coming Home to Self is a book about becoming aware. It is written for all members of the adoption triad: adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents as well as those who are in relationship with them, including professionals.
American Baby
The shocking truth about postwar adoption in America, told through the bittersweet story of one teenager, the son she was forced to relinquish, and their search to find each other.
The Myth of Normal
By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing.
If you know of a book you would like added to this list, email me at [email protected].
SEARCH & SUPPORT
Search Angels & Organizations
- Angel Search Network: A dedicated team of search angels offering adoption search support and assistance. They have a wide network of resources and volunteers ready to help individuals in their search for birth parents, adoptees, and other relatives.
- Search Angels Worldwide: A global community of search angels providing support and guidance to those involved in adoption searches. They offer various services, including document research, DNA analysis, and emotional support throughout the search process.
- Adoption Reunion Registry Search Angels: This organization specializes in reuniting birth families and adoptees through their search angel network. They provide personalized assistance, access to databases, and expert guidance to navigate the complexities of adoption searches.
- DNA Detectives: A group of experienced genetic genealogists who offer their expertise in using DNA testing and analysis to uncover family connections. They specialize in adoption-related searches and can help individuals interpret DNA results and navigate genetic genealogy databases.
- Search Squad: Composed of volunteer search angels, Search Squad assists individuals in finding their birth families through research, public records, and social media platforms. They have a dedicated online community where individuals can seek guidance and support throughout their search journey.
- Find My Family Adoption Search Angels: A team of passionate search angels dedicated to helping adoptees, birth parents, and siblings find each other. They provide personalized search plans, access to databases, and emotional support during the search process.
- Adoption Search Consultants: A group of professional search consultants who specialize in adoption searches. They offer comprehensive search services, including record retrieval, genetic genealogy research, and expert advice on navigating adoption laws and regulations.
- Birth Parent Finder: A network of search angels with expertise in locating birth parents and facilitating reunions. They offer personalized search strategies, document retrieval, and emotional support for both adoptees and birth parents throughout the search process.
- Search Angels of Adoption: A nonprofit organization comprised of dedicated search angels who volunteer their time and expertise to assist individuals in finding their biological families. They provide guidance, research assistance, and emotional support to individuals searching for their roots.
- The Seeker’s Heart: A group of search angels committed to helping adoptees and birth families find each other. They offer a range of services, including record searches, DNA analysis, and personalized support throughout the search and reunion process.
“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
ORGANIZATIONS
Blue Plastic Cow: One Woman’s Search for Her Birth Mother
This is the true story of Barbara’s adoption by a family who lived in a town on the banks of the River Mersey. They were a loving family but Barbara always felt different. Her mother, Florrie, never wanted her to know the truth. At age 12, after Barbara accidentally discovered that she was adopted, Florrie lied to her about her birth mother, Carole, and the facts surrounding her birth.
As a teenager, unable to deal with the shock of what she’d learned, she rebelled against her parents, finding solace in the exciting 1960s’ Liverpool music scene. Against her parents’ wishes, she got a job in Liverpool as a secretary. She went to lunch time sessions at the Cavern where she saw The Beatles, and often stayed out late in Liverpool drinking.
Decades later, Barbara discovered tear stained letters from her birth mother, containing heart-breaking words that would send her on a challenging 26-year quest to find Carole and discover the secret of the blue plastic cow.
Unraveling Your Adoption Journey: Journal Prompts for the Adoptee’s Journey
Ready to dive deep into your adoption journey? My journal, Unraveling Your Adoption Journey, was created with adoptees in mind—those of us navigating identity, trust, and belonging. It’s more than just a journal; it’s a space to process your emotions, dig into your story, and explore who you really are, all while feeling seen and understood.
With each prompt, you’ll have the chance to reflect, get creative, and truly explore the layers of your own narrative. Whether you’re wrestling with issues of identity, trust, abandonment, or just trying to make sense of the complex emotions around adoption, this journal helps you make space for those feelings and encourages you to dive deeper into what makes you, you.
Inside, you’ll find a blend of thoughtful exercises and prompts that not only encourage self-reflection but also help you express yourself in ways that feel right for you. It’s a way to unravel your story piece by piece and make peace with it, reconnecting with your true self along the way.
Whether you’re just starting to explore your adoption journey or looking for a new perspective, this journal offers guidance, comfort, and a reminder that you’re not alone in your experience. Unraveling Your Adoption Journey empowers you to reclaim your narrative, embrace your story, and find a sense of belonging that feels authentic to you.
Open it up, and let this be the start of your healing, your self-discovery, and your journey toward acceptance and understanding.
20 Life-Transforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make, Second Edition
As an adoptee, do you have mixed feelings about your adoption? Sherrie Eldridge is an adoptee and adoption expert, and in this book she draws on her personal experiences and feelings relating to adoption as well as interviews with over 70 adoptees. Sherrie reveals how you can discover your own unique life purpose and worth, and sets out 20 life-transforming choices which you have the power to make. The choices will help you discover answers about issues such as: Why do I feel guilty when I think about my birth parents? Why can’t I talk about the painful aspects of adoption? Where can I gain an unshakable sense of self-esteem? Sherrie also addresses the problem of depression among adoptees and common dilemmas such as if, when and how to contact a birth mother or father. This fully updated second edition includes new material on finding support online, contacting family through social media, and features three new chapters, including Sherrie’s story of reuniting with her birth brother, Jon, in adulthood.
Two Hearts: An Adoptee’s Journey Through Grief to Gratitude
Linda Hoye was in her early twenties when she found herself parentless for the second time. Adopted at five months of age, her heritage, medical history, and access to information about who she was or where she came from was sealed. It was as if she had never existed before being adopted.When she was barely in her twenties her adoptive parents died and a pattern of loss was put into motion that would continue for years as, one by one, those she called family were torn from her life.Two Hearts charts a course through a complex series of relationships stemming from the author’s adoptive family, her maternal and paternal birth families, and an abusive marriage as the author seeks the one thing she so desperately wants: family.She knows she must come to terms with the bitterness she harbors toward her birth mother when she becomes a grandmother and, soon after, faces the loss of the last remaining members of her adoptive family. She makes one final attempt to find something that will give her the sense of rightness that eluded her for so long.This is the story of a woman’s journey through unfathomable grief, of what it takes to go into the abyss of deep-seated wounding, to feel the pain, and to come out the other side. Whole, healed, and thankful.
Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity
In 1961 Paige was put up for adoption, a more taboo and secretive topic than it is today. Paige’s adoptive family chose not to focus on the adoption, but instead function as a regular family with natural children. However, being adopted made her feel vulnerable and unreal. She longed to know more about her true self. In Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity, Paige tells stories from the perspective of a child and adolescent, growing up with a closely guarded secret. Through vignettes, Paige relates feelings about her adoption to forming and maintaining relationships, caring for pets, moving to new houses and neighborhoods, losing loved ones and entering young adulthood. Her need for acceptance is juxtaposed with her adoptive father’s increasingly erratic behavior. This is a tale of family joys and hardships, friendships, falling in love and the need to belong. It is set in the era of free love, social unrest and unexpected change during the 1960s, 70s and 80s
Adopting Privilege: A Memoir of Reinventing My Adoptee Narrative
Adopting Privilege is Dr. Hasberry’s attempt at not only reckoning with her past, but offering unfiltered guidance to other transracial adoptees, and the larger adoption community, navigating what it means to exist in a familial limbo while also discovering what it means to simply exist.
Abigail Hasberry is no stranger to adoption. As both a Black adoptee to a white family, and a birth mother, her intimate understanding of this experience has shaped her career as both a therapist and transracial adoption scholar. However, the intricacies of transracial adoption narratives leave much to be discovered, and with stories often shared from the perspective of the adoptive family, the most affected group—the adoptees—are often left to fend for themselves in their own self discoveries.
Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanancy
Based on a hugely successful US model, the Seven Core Issues in Adoption is the first conceptual framework of its kind to offer a unifying lens that was inclusive of all individuals touched by the adoption experience.
When the Past is Present: Healing the emotional wounds that Sabotage our Relationships
The popular author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships reveals how past trauma can negatively impact our present-day relationships—and offers guidance on what to do about it
Healing the Child Within
Here, frontline physician and therapist Charles Whitfield describes the process of wounding that the Child Within (True Self) experiences and shows how to differentiate the True Self from the false self.
Coming Home to Self: The Adoped Child Grow up
Coming Home to Self is a book about becoming aware. It is written for all members of the adoption triad: adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents as well as those who are in relationship with them, including professionals.
American Baby
The shocking truth about postwar adoption in America, told through the bittersweet story of one teenager, the son she was forced to relinquish, and their search to find each other.
The Myth of Normal
By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing.
If you know of an organization you would like added to this list, email me at [email protected].
