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Adoption Addiction Absolution: An Adopted Boy’s Life: Hijacked. Lorraine Wheeler. 2015. 111p. (Kindle eBook) L Wheeler.
This is a story about an adoption and the journey both the adoptee and his adoptive parents experienced as they tried to cope with a battery of challenges that eventually overwhelmed best efforts and intentions. Adoptees face a myriad of issues as they grow and develop. These include abandonment, attachment, bonding, loss, lack of a historical narrative and more. Adoptive parents are challenged by their own denial, the adoptees disguised anger, the adoptees acting out behaviors and their own unfinished business of not producing biological children. Birth mothers never forget they gave birth; and they, too, are caught in the cycle of loss and grief as they often relinquish their children against their will. This adoption triad is challenged to promote normalcy in a complex situation. My story will focus on how meeting these challenges becomes even more difficult when addiction, dramatic losses and catastrophic disease combine to create obstacles for the adoptee as he tries to grow and develop a sense of self and mature into an adult who can function in society. The question of nature versus nurture will be discussed with an authentic appraisal of this controversial issue. Parental responses such as tough love, addressing learning disabilities, special schools, addiction treatments and finally reunion with a biological family will be discussed as we accompany a boy on his journey to manhood and identity formation. Using the unique perspective of one family you will learn what seemed to work and what did not. Adoption changes families and you will discover the emotional complexity one family experienced as they traveled this difficult road. In this fast-paced era of Internet reunions, the increasing frequency of international adoptions, this story will provide a valuable tool for adoptive parents and adoptees trying to cope and feeling they may have nowhere to turn. Understanding that you are not alone and others have traveled this rocky path may help alleviate some of the stresses and strains. You will also be introduced to the most amazing therapeutic dog. You will never forget him. About the Author: Lorraine Wheeler is a clinical nurse specialist with a clinical focus on mental health and has practiced nursing for over forty years. Her practice focused on women’s issues, group therapy, multi-cultural issues, stress management education and consultation. She has taught nursing, published in the nursing literature and also worked in hospice care. She is now retired and enjoying two beautiful grandchildren.
Adoption Detective: Memoir of an Adopted Child. Judith Land, with Martin Land. 2011. 300p. Wheatmark.
From the Back Cover: A passionate love affair between high school sweethearts creates an accidental pregnancy during a sultry night on the shore of Lake Michigan. Rebecca’s unforgiving parents banish her to an unwed mother’s home where she secretly gives birth to a baby girl. Her daughter Judy is placed in the loving care of foster parents before being callously given to Mario and Rosella Romano for adoption on her first birthday.

Reoccurring visions and fantasies of her birth mother plague Judy’s consciousness for three decades until a life-changing passage into adulthood causes her to question why she was abandoned. What begins as a simple investigation into her medical and ancestral history slowly evolves into a passionate quest to discover her roots.

Through good timing, perseverance, and a few small miracles, Judy eventually solves the mystery of her origins. But will the woman she has been seeking welcome Judy back into her life?

About the Author: Judith and Martin Land live in Colorado and Arizona. They told the entire story of Judith Land’s adoption, from her birth through adulthood, to provide the reader with unique insights into the mind of an adoptee at various stages of her life.
Adoption Encounter: Hurt, Transition, Healing. Mary Jo Rillera. 1987. 171p. Triadoption Publications.
Adoption Encounter acknowledges that adoption is a lifelong process; is a condition of peoples lives, not who they are; influences the conscious and unconscious of those it touches; involves bonding, separation, loss and gain; expands families and relationships and can add options to the lives of everyone involved. Everyone in adoption is first and foremost a whole human being and should be encouraged and empowered to maintain personal dominion in their life.

About the Author: Mary Jo Rillera founded the Triadoption Library and is both an adoptee and birth mother. Having experienced her own reunions and ongoing relationships and having worked with thousands of searchers, she offers a unique understanding of the process.
Adoption Healing ... A Path to Recovery. Joe Soll. 2000. 215p. Liturgical Press.
From the Publisher: In this unique book, the reader is provided with a description of the unfolding of the adoptee’s personality from birth, detailing each developmental milestone along the way, followed by different methods of healing the adoptee’s wounds, including inner child work, visualizations, healing affirmations, and anger management. Every chapter includes a Myths and Realities of adoption section, a summary of the chapter and exercises to do on one’s own. See also: Adoption Healing: A Path to Recovery Supplement (2012, Virtualbookworm.com Publishing). This addition to the Adoption Healing series contains information that was not included in the two originals. As in the originals, the reader is provided with a description of the aftermath of the separation of mother and child to adoption and the profound effects on their lives. This is followed by additional methods of healing the subsequent wounds, including more inner child work, new visualizations, healing affirmations, anger management and other thoughts and suggestions for healing. Every chapter includes a summary and exercises to do on one’s own.

About the Author: Joe Soll is a psychotherapist, lecturer and a former adjunct professor of social work at Fordham University Graduate School, internationally recognized as an expert in adoption related issues. He is director and co-founder of Adoption Crossroads in New York City, a non-profit adoption search and support organization.

Since 1989, Mr. Soll has organized and coordinated seven international mental health conferences on adoption, has been an expert witness in court about adoption related issues and has lectured widely at adoption agencies, social work schools, mental health facilities and mental health conferences in the U.S. and Canada.

Joe Soll has appeared on radio and television over 300 times, given over 150 lectures on adoption-related issues and has been featured or quoted in over five dozen newspapers, books and magazines.
Adoption Healing... A Path to Recovery: Articles, etc.. Joe Soll, LCSW. 2013. 172p. Joe Soll.
From the Publisher: This addition to the Adoption Healing series is a compilation of all the articles that I have been asked to write in the last year, plus more than a half dozen chapters with totally new material. The articles address specific issues faced by adoptees and mothers of adoption loss and suggest new exercises and methods of healing the wounds while working towards better relationships, peace and contentment. Additionally, a half dozen articles from Voices from Exile by Joss Shawyer, author of Death by Adoption, are included.

About the Author: Joe Soll LCSW is a diplomate psychotherapist and lecturer, internationally recognized as an expert in adoption-related issues, and a former adjunct professor of social work at Fordham University Graduate School. He is director and co-founder of Adoption Crossroads in New York City, a non-profit organization that helps those separated by adoption. Adoption Crossroads is dedicated to educating the public about adoption issues, preserving families and reforming current adoption practices.

The director and founder of the Adoption Counseling Center in New York City, Mr. Soll was a member of Matilda Cuomo’s 1993 Advisory Council on Adoption. He’s a fellow of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the American Association of Grief Counselors, and a member of the Council on Social Work Education, the National Association of Social Workers and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

He resides in Congers, NY and maintains an office in New York City.
Adoption is for a Lifetime: “God’s Plan for a Family through All Phases of Adoption”. Nancy McCullough. 2008. 132p. Xulon Press.
Nancy was Canada’s first foreign adoptee. She shares her fascinating story of how God orchestrated her adoption from Hong Kong, blessed her with wonderful parents, a loving husband, and in His faithfulness and healing presence, brought them through every struggle, especially the loss of their first daughter, Rebecca Joy. Despite the grief, Nancy shares how God turned their pain into joy and sorrow into victory. From what may have seemed like a tragedy to most, Nancy and her husband, Paul, now see how God used this great trial to prepare their hearts for the adoption of Joylin (5), their first precious daughter and their second, Saralin (1). Take a journey with Nancy, as she testifies of the abiding presence of our heavenly Father’s heart for adoption. Nancy (Lai Kwan Chiu) was born in Hong Kong. At 3½ years of age, she was adopted by Chinese parents and became Canada’s first foreign adoptee. She lived with her parents and adopted brother, Gerry, in Montreal until she was 13, after which her family moved to Philadelphia, PA. She graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and eventually pursued a career in computer programming. Nancy, her husband, Paul, and adopted Chinese daughters, Joylin (5) and Sarlin (1) now live in Pittsburgh, PA, where she works as a computer programmer/systems analyst. She enjoys serving as head deacon at her local church and co-teaching an adult Sunday School class with Paul. Nancy’s greatest passion, however, is being a mother to Joylin and Saralin, her pride and joy.
Adoption is Not a Bad Word. Robin Waltrip. 2013. 48p. AuthorHouse.
Miraculously, they survived an unspeakable ordeal and became the best of friends. In fact they became more than friends—from that day onward, they became as close and inseparable as only true blood sisters could be. The lifelong bond between Manya and Raya was so strong that nothing could ever tear them apart. Their friendship survived immigration from their birth-country to Israel and Canada and not even the distance of the ocean could destroy their bond. They were meant to be a part of each other’s lives forever as sisters chosen by destiny.
Adoption Maze: An Adoptee’s True Struggle Finding Herself. Truth N Justice. 2013. 18p. (Kindle eBook) Kathleen Logan.
This book is a true story about an adoptee’s struggle to find herself. Growing up as a mixed-raced child in the ’60s was not easy. The real power to the story is that she did not even know she was actually adopted until she was almost 40, and her adoptive parents were long deceased. She finally finds out about her adoption and even more confused. She has very few details on where she might have come from. Giving up all hope of ever finding her family, she decided to help others find theirs. In the midst of it all, something was on the horizon, and you’ll never believe what it was.
Adoption Not an Option: A Métis Woman Torn from her Family and her 40 year Battle to Find Them Again. Eugenea Couture. 2014. 273p. Influence Publishing, Inc.
Eugenea was forced into Alberta’s foster care system at the age of four. As an adult, she settled in Vancouver, B.C., raising her children and reuniting with her biological family so they could mend their broken relationships. It has been her lifelong passion to share her journey and help others find their families in the process. As a young girl growing up in the foster care system, Eugenea burns with desire to reclaim her identity by finding the family she has lost. As a mother of four, she becomes determined never to lose her own children as her mother and grandmother had before her. Her search for her adoptive brother, Josh, becomes Eugenea’s greatest quest. During the forty years of separation from her brother, she builds up an inner strength by unlocking the secrets of her past, understanding the generational patterns of guilt and shame, and developing her own techniques to restore the bonds of her fragmented family. In narrating her incredible personal journey, Eugenea shares many positive tools for others to locate and reunite their family members, even when all hope seems lost.

UK Ed. (1996)
The Adoption Reader: Birth Mothers, Adoptive Mothers and Adopted Daughters Tell Their Stories. Susan Wadia-Ells, ed. 1995. 285p. Seal Press.
From the Back Cover: With eloquence and conviction, more than thirty birth mothers, adoptive mothers and adopted daughters explore what is a deeply emotional, sometimes controversial and always compelling experience that affects millions of families and individuals.

These personal essays and stories are informed by the contemporary adoption movement and raise timely issues that illustrate its complexity, among them: open and closed adoption, cross-cultural adoption, the birth record debate, the experience of biracial adoptees, adoption by lesbian couples, and the search for identity.

Featuring the work of well-known writers and activists, The Adoption Reader is a helpful, hopeful and vital collection about growth and self-understanding and a must-read book for anyone who has been touched by the adoption experience.

About the Author: Susan Wadia-Ells, a writer and long-time feminist, educator and activist is co-director of The Wise Ones Conference Group. She is working towards a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies and lives in Vermont with her nine year-old son, Anil.
Adoption Reality: A Paradox. Ginni D Snodgrass. Translated by IR Jacobsen. Introductions by Jean Paton, Hal Aigner & Sandy Musser. 1990. 92p. GS Enterprise.
Adoption Records Handbook: Locate Your Birth Family Legally and Creatively!. Teresa Brown. 2008. 136p. Crary Publications.
Inside the covers of this book are lists of Search Angels who will help in searches at no charge, addresses of where to send a Waiver and requests for non-identifying information along with samples of the proper notarized letter formats, sixteen pages of imaginative and helpful search tips, further letter examples, registries, state statutes, and several other helpful resources. There are also templates of an Affidavit, Notice, Petition, and Order including statutes that apply to every state that can conform to Pro Se (doing-it-yourself) court filings. The Adoption Records Handbook is a road map to help birth families discover the past and the future with step-by-step directions to lead the way down their path. This book will have a profound impact on currently available adoption search methods.
Adoption Reunion: Ecstasy or Agony?. Evelyn Burns Robinson. 2009. 184p. Clova Publications (Australia).
From the Publisher: A reunion between family members who have been separated by an adoption can be a very emotional event. For most people there is great joy and excitement, but for some there can be anger and disappointment. Sometimes there is a mixture of both ecstasy and agony. Evelyn Robinson has written this book to help to explain that mixture of feelings and to increase understanding of the emotional dynamics of the reunion experience. Although the author lives and works in South Australia, the information in this book is pertinent to anyone, anywhere in the world, who is interested in the outcomes of adoption separation and reunion. Australia has led the English-speaking world in providing legal access to adoption information, which can facilitate reunion between adults separated by adoption. When children are adopted, they are no longer legally related to any member of their original families, i.e. the family of their original mother and the family of their original father. When they become adults, however, many adopted people are reunited with their families of origin. This book contains a selection from the many discussions which Evelyn has had around adoption separation and reunion over a period of more than twenty years.

About the Author: Evelyn Burns Robinson was born and raised in Scotland and gave birth to her first child, Stephen, in 1970, whom she surrendered for adoption soon after birth. By the time she was reunited with her first-born son 21 years later, Evelyn had had four more children and moved to South Australia. She became involved with post-adoption support in 1989 and has worked as a volunteer in that area ever since. She obtained a degree in social work in 1996 and then worked for some years as a post-adoption counselor. She is presently at work on a fourth book, which is a collection of the experiences of parents who have lost children through adoption.

By the Same Author: Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief (2000); Adoption and Recovery: Solving the Mystery of Reunion (2004); and Adoption Separation: Then and Now (2010).
The Adoption Reunion Handbook. Liz Trinder, Julia Feast, & David Howe. 2004. 174p. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (UK).
From the Back Cover: Many adopted people today try to find information about their origins and search for birth family members.

Based on a large-scale research study, the authors Liz Trinder, Julia Feast and David Howe have drawn on the real-life experience of adopted people who have searched for, and had a reunion with, birth relatives. The Adoption Reunion Handbook combines comprehensive and practical step-by-step guidance and advice on:

• how to begin

• what to expect emotionally

• the legal framework

• finding names and addresses

• how to set up a reunion

• making the reunion work long term

• rejection and reunion breakdown

• further help and advice.

This “how to” guide is essential for everyone involved, particularly those considering searching for information on their birth relatives. It will also be of use to birth parents, adoptive parents, adoption charities, social workers, psychologists and counsellors.
Adoption Reunion in the Social Media Age: An Anthology. Laura Dennis, ed. 2014. 260p. Entourage Publishing.
From the Back Cover: This anthology gives voice to the wide experiences of adoptees and those who love them; examining the emotional, psychological and logistical effects of adoption reunion.

Primarily adult adoptee voices, we also hear from adoptive parents, first moms and mental health professionals, all weighing in on their experience with reunion. The stories, although told through an adoption lens, connect with anyone who has experienced the pain of loss and the joy of deep human connection.

The memories of adoption reunion are complex—jubilant yet tenderly regretful; nostalgic and yet completely new; angry yet humbly accepting. They show pain, but they also tell of resilience and strength in the face of incredible loss.

In short, the essays of this anthology relate the human experience: raw, resilient, and most of all real.

About the Author: Laura Dennis was born in New Jersey and raised in Maryland. She earned a B.A. and M.F.A. in dance performance and choreography, but gave up aches and pains and bloody feet in 2004 to become a stylish sales director for a biotech startup. Then with two children under the age of three, in 2010 she and her husband sought to simplify their lifestyle and escaped to his hometown, Belgrade. While the children learned Serbian in their cozy preschool, Laura recovered from sleep deprivation and wrote her memoir, Adopted Reality.

She is also the editor of Adoption Therapy: Perspectives from Clients and Clinicians on Processing and Healing Post-Adoption Issues (2014).
Adoption Reunion Stories: True Heart-Warming Accounts. Shirley Budd Pusey. 2006. 266p. Acacia Publishing, Inc.
From the Publisher: In Adoption Reunion Stories, the author chronicles the deeply moving experiences of 38 adoptees and 56 other family members. Each person interviewed contributes insights gained through the process of learning about and/or meeting other members of the adoption triad. Anyone who has ever been involved with an adoption, whether as a professional or as a family member, and especially those who are adopted or have placed a child for adoption, will find this book an invaluable source of enlightenment and comfort.

About the Author: Shirley Budd Pusey was awarded a B.S. in Sociology and a Graduate Certificate in Social Work by the University of Utah. Prior to joining the staff of Family Service Agency of Phoenix as an adoption counselor, she was with the Denver Department of Child Welfare. She remained in that position for over 32 years until retirement. She was one of the first certified members of the Arizona Supreme Court’s Confidential Intermediary Program established in 1993 to facilitate reunions of consenting adult members of the adoption triad and continues to serve in that capacity. Shirley is a wife, mother of two daughters and grandmother of five.

By the Same Author: Adoption With Love (2000, Elton Wolf Publishing).
The Adoption Reunion Survival Guide: Preparing Yourself for the Search, Reunion, and Beyond. Julie Jarrell Bailey & Lynn N Giddens, MA. Foreword by Annette Baran, MSW. 2001. 152p. New Harbinger Publications.
From the Publisher: Using real-life examples, this compassionate guide helps adoptees and their birth mothers decide whether or not to try to locate each other, prepare for a reunion, survive the emotional turbulence of the initial meeting, and avoid common pitfalls. Since the legal issues surrounding the process can vary greatly from one state to another, the book includes an overview of pertinent laws, along with practical suggestions for navigating through them.
Adoption Reunions: A Book for Adoptees, Birth Parents and Adoptive Families. Michelle McColm. 1993. 271p. Second Story Press (Canada).
From the Publisher: In this practical book, Michelle McColm draws on extensive interviews with adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents, as well as the experience of her own reunion.

About the Author: Working in adoption disclosure at a Children’s Aid Society, Michelle McColm became familiar with the stories of adoptees and birth mothers alike. An adoptee herself, she has successfully navigated her way through a reunion with her birth mother and extended family. She now lives in Toronto.
The Adoption Searchbook: Techniques For Tracing People. Mary Jo Rillera. 1981. 218p. (1985. 2nd ed. 205p.; 1991. 3rd rev ed.) Triadoption Publications.
From the Back Cover: Mary Jo Rillera is founder and president of Triadoption Library, Inc., in Westminster, CA. She was formerly Public Education Director for ALMA Western Region and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Concerned United Birthparents and Independent Search Consultants, as a Guardian Trustee for the International Soundex Reunion Registry and sits on the Orange County Adoption Council. In addition to her years of work within the adoption-reform movement, her personal search-and-reunion experiences as both adoptee and birth parent make her uniquely qualified to scrutinize the emotional and procedural aspects in post-adoption. Her writing reflects expertise in research methods and resources, and a deep personal commitment to change the limitations inherent in the present adoption system.
The Adoption Searcher’s Handbook: A Guidebook for Adoptees, Birth Parents and Others Involved in the Adoption Search. Norma M Tillman. 1992. 110p. (2010 Revision. 223p. Norma Tillman Publications.) Diane Books.
From the Back Cover: Nashville, TN based veteran private investigator Norma Tillman is a missing person expert, author, and speaker. She has a proven track record for finding long lost family and friends. Her background includes working 11 years with law enforcement, 2 years of insurance fraud investigations, and over 20 years of private investigations. She has a proven track record -of finding and reuniting families and friends and has appeared on over 100 television shows including Oprah, The View, Nancy Grace, NBC, and CBS.

As an adoption rights advocate in the 1980s Norma became a lobbyist and petitioned the Tennessee Legislature to make changes to the adoption laws. She believes that adoptees should have the right to know their identity, their heredity, and their medical background information. After many years and thanks to other lobbyists petitioning the Tennessee Legislature for Open Adoption Records, Tennessee is now one of five states with Open Records. Tennessee adoptees and biological families can now request the state to open the adoption records.

Adoptees need to know their identity, and birth parents often live with regret and guilt and need peace of mind to know they made the best decision for their child. The adoption search is primarily for information and not necessarily for a relationship. Adoption searching is the most difficult search of all. In order to conduct an adoption search the searcher must:

• Understand the adoption laws

• Understand what records may exist

• How to approach the missing person

• What it takes to have a successful reunion

According to a study committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics it was determined that in order to develop normally an adoptee needs to know their identity.

About the Author: Norma Tillman is not the typical stereotyped private investigator. Her background includes working with law-enforcement eleven years, two years of insurance fraud investigations, and over twenty years of private investigations. She has a proven track record for winning cases for attorneys and clients. With over twenty years of experience she has worked on almost every type of investigation including background investigations, divorce and child custody, insurance fraud, criminal defense, copyright infringement, and environmental cases, but her specialty is locating and reuniting long lost families and friends and finding missing heirs.

As a professional speaker she is never at a loss for an interesting story based on her true cases. She does not hold back on sharing information and experience and loves the challenge of taking her audience to a new level.

Over 2500 professional investigators across the country have attended her training seminars at various association conferences including Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Ohio. She has also spoken at Surveillance Expo (McLean, VA), the ION Conference in Phoenix, AZ., the Chiefs of Police Conference in Boston, MA., Tennessee Association of Legal Professional Investigators, the Tennessee Paralegal Association, Austin Peay State College, and the University of Alabama.

Whether she is a guest on a television or radio show, speaking or conducting a seminar, her behind the scenes look at the real world of private investigation is informative, entertaining, inspirational, and motivating.

She is the author of Private Investigation 101, How To Find Almost Anyone, Anywhere, The Man With the Turquoise Eyes and other True Stories of a Private Eye’s Search for Missing Persons, and The Adoption Searcher’s Handbook. Norma has appeared on many national and local television shows including Oprah, The View, The Nancy Grace Show, CNN, NBC, and about a hundred talk shows and has been featured in many national publications and magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, EMMY, and many more.

By the Same Author: Secrets for Successful Searching: How to Locate Information and Find Almost Anyone (1992, UFO); How to Find Almost Anyone, Anywhere (1994, Rutledge Hill Press); and The Man with the Turquoise Eyes: And Other True Stories of a Private Eye’s Search for Missing Persons (1995, Rutledge Hill Press).
Adoption Searches Made Easier. Joseph J Culligan. 1996. 759p. FJA.
From the Publisher: There are two distinct, but related, parts to doing an adoption search. First, you need to uncover the identity of the person for whom you are searching. Second, you need to locate that person after the passage of many years. Adoption Searches Made Easier will help you with both of these tasks. Written by a licensed private investigator, this book explains in detail the techniques and information sources you need to know in order to increase your chances of a successful search. It also contains extensive listings of resources by county and state.

About the Author: Joseph J Culligan, licensed private investigator and Hall of Fame member of the National Association of Investigative Specialists, has worked the “Kennedy-Smith Rape” case for A Current Affair, the “Jeffrey Dahmer” case, the “Mike Tyson Rape” case, the “General Manuel Noriega” case and many others for the national media, attorneys and government. His many cases have appeared on Maury Povich, Phil Donahue Show, Montel Williams, Rescue 911, Sally Jessy Raphael, Hard Copy, Leeza, Gordon Elliot, Rolonda, Vicki Lawrence, and the Ricki Lake Show among other television programs. Mr. Culligan, author of You, Too, Can Find Anybody and When In Doubt, Check Him Out, teaches you in Adoption Searches Made Easier the many techniques used when he investigates adoption cases.
Adoption Stories: Individual Accounts of the Adoption Experience in Ireland. Sharon Lawless. 2016. 244p. Carnegie Hill Publishing (Ireland).
From the Back Cover: Since 1952 nearly 45,000 children have been legally adopted in Ireland. It is estimated that a similar number of illegal adoptions have also taken place in that time. In Adoption Stories people share their experience and talk about the impact adoption has had on their lives.

While an adopted child has the same rights as one born into a family, all legal ties to the natural parents are severed. At present, under Irish law, adopted people and natural parents are prohibited from accessing information about each other, unless they appeal to the authorities. As a result, adopted people don’t know their true identity and mothers don’t know what became of their child. Reunion is sometimes fulfilling and rewarding; other times it only emphasises the great distance that has opened up between parent and child.

For some, international adoption is the only way they can have a family, and that presents many of the same emotions and challenges as in the past. Adoption remains as much part of life today as in 1952 and it affects nearly every family in Ireland.

Based on the popular TV3 series, Adoption Stories is a fascinating window onto the extraordinary experience of natural parents, adopted children and their adoptive families alike.

About the Author: Sharon Lawless has always wanted to tell stories that get a reaction, whether it’s laughter, tears, anger or enlightenment. With a long career in media, apart from five years managing nightclubs, she has advertised, PRd, event managed, produced and directed the best of them and really believes in working at what you love. She was first on a film set before she was born and it’s still what makes her smile. Her best friends are her family and she lives in Dublin with her partner Alf and cat Cookie.
An Adoption Story. Joseph Garrity. 2012. 103p. (Kindle eBook) Eirenikos Press.
When Joe was seven years old, his birth mother told him he was adopted by his dad. Join him in this emotional and inspiring journey through being an adopted son, facing the realities of infertility, adopting a beautiful son of his own, and finally, being reunited with his birth father. This book is an uplifting and thought provoking story on the struggles of infertility, the adoption process, and the joys of reconciliation. About the Author: Joe Garrity lives in rural Missouri with his wife and son, whom they brought home in October of 2011. In addition to writing about his life, Joe is an active member of the community as a high school teacher and coach. He has also written and released three music CDs about the experiences of his life. You can find out more about the author, as well as other works by him, at www.garritymusic.com.
Adoption Therapy: Perspectives from Clients and Clinicians on Processing and Healing Post-Adoption Issues. Laura Dennis, ed. 2014. 226p. Entourage Publishing.
From the Back Cover: A much-needed anthology addressing a variety of potential psychological and physiological concerns, Adoption Therapy: Perspectives from Clients and Clinicians on Processing and Healing Post-Adoption Issues is a must-read for adoptees, adoptive parents, first families, and vitally, mental health professionals. With writing by adoptees, adoptive parents, and clinicians, Adoption Therapy is a first-of-its-kind and wholly unique reference book, providing insight, advice, and personal stories which highlight the specific nature of the adoptee experience. Topics Include:

• The psychological dangers in leaving trauma and grief buried and unaddressed

• The importance of community in healing the wounds of separation

• Understanding the physical and psychological effects of transracial adoption

• Attachment—including the inability to attach, inappropriate attachment, and the myth of Reactive Attachment Disorder

• Conception by rape: an adoptee speaks out

• Co-dependency, intimacy, and creating closeness

• The life-long effects of pre- and perinatal trauma

• Processing complex trauma, complex grief, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Specific concerns for Late Discovery Adoptees

• The relationship among trauma, anger and rage, and substance abuse

• For adoptive parents and adoptees: red flags when working with a therapist

About the Author: Laura Dennis was born and adopted in New Jersey and raised in Maryland. She earned a B.A. and M.F.A. in dance performance and choreography, with a certificate in critical theory. She gave up aches and pains and bloody feet to become a sales director for a biotech startup. Then with two children under the age of three, in 2010 she and her husband sought to simplify their lifestyle and escaped to his hometown, Belgrade. While the children learned Serbian in their cozy preschool, Laura recovered from sleep deprivation and wrote Adopted Reality: A Memoir.

An adoptee activist in reunion, she writes at The Lost Daughters, Adoption Voices Magazine and her own blog, Expat (Adoptee) Mommy. Her essays have been published in Lost Daughters: Writing Adoption from a Place of Empowerment and Peace, and The Perpetual Child: Dismantling the Stereotype. Laura is passionate about giving voice to the adoptee experience and is proud to have edited the popular anthology, Adoption Reunion in the Social Media Age.
Adoption to Addiction. Anne Bradley. 2014. 144p. CreateSpace.
By the time I was 12 years of age—that would have been about 1967—I was drinking destructively. At 15, I was sent to an “Approved” school for almost three years. Then it got really bad. Read Anne’s story of addiction and her journey to recovery.
The Adoption Triad Asks: Who Am I Really?. Alice B Davenport, MS, CFLE. 2009. 62p. Porch Light Press.
Who am I really? applies to all parties in the adoption triad—birth mother and father, adoptee, and adoptive mother and father. We once thought adoption was the answer to everyone’s dilemma. The mother could get on with her life. The baby would have a wonderful home. The new parents would have a child of their own. Now, we know this has never been true. everyone involved was suffering and unable to voice the pain. In spite of the hundreds of articles and books written by and about the adoption triad, each wonders why others cannot see their pain. The general public wonders why any of them have pain, since adoption seems to be the answer for everyone involved. Adoption is traumatic for both adoptee and birth mother and the majority search for each other often causing fear for the adoptive parents. Early separation affects the baby that was connected to the mother for nine months, leaving an innate need to find that connection again. Adoption is both a good thing and a bad thing. Every child deserves to have a stable home. To be adopted means someone had to give them up first. The big problem is secrecy. Adoptees do not have any biological roots; no genetic tie to anyone, and often cannot get their original birth certificates even as an adult. In New South Wales, Australia, children keep their names and biological history, as they become part of a new family. Adoptees from South Korea have dual citizenship since they had no choice in the matter. Every person has the right to know their origins and the truth about themselves. Every mother has the right to know the well being of the child she relinquished. Adoptive parents should not be pitied nor looked upon as saints for taking someone else’s child. Adoptees have reason to fear intimate relationships because the person may be a biological parent or sibling. Adoption changes genealogy and kinship patterns are forever. Each member of the adoption triad needs to be able to say they are part of more than one family just as families of divorce. Having someone else’s name and history implies ownership, not honesty and love. We need to understand and acknowledge the pain so we as a society and individuals can lead a happy, healthy life.

About the Author: Alice B. Davenport has been a Certified Family Life Educator living in Las Cruces, NM, for the past 16 years. She owns a sewing shop where people not only come to get their clothes altered, but just to discuss life in general. Having been a night worker, she understands the need to talk and socialize after work. She often speaks at groups of people during the night or early morning hours. Alice grew up poor and has lived in several states such as Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Colorado and Idaho. Her son and grandchildren live in Idaho. She has a Master of Science degree in Family and Consumer Science from New Mexico State University (1997). She works with victims of domestic violence, adoptees, grandparents raising grandchildren, people who love an addict, and other family issues. Alice has presented workshops at professional conferences in Connecticut, Texas, and New Mexico. Like many other people, she worked several years to get a Ph.D., ran out of money and time and did not complete it. She will return to New Mexico State University this Fall to begin a Master’s of Art degree in communication studies.
Adoption Wisdom: A Guide to the Issues and Feelings of Adoption. Marlou Russell, PhD. 1996. 200p. Broken Branch Productions.
From the Back Cover: Adoption Wisdom: A Guide to the Issues and Feelings of Adoption offers insight and understanding of adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents. Adoption Wisdom includes chapters on Adoption Awareness, the Basic Truths of Adoption, Search and Reunion, and an Ideal Adoption. A book for anyone who wants to know more about the realities of adoption.

About the Author: Marlou Russell, Ph.D., is a psychologist and Marriage, Family and Child Counselor in private practice in Santa Monica, California. She provides psychotherapy and counseling for adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive families. She facilitates support/therapy groups for adult adoptees and birth parents and offers consultation to professionals in the field of psychology on adoption issues.

Dr. Russell is a speaker at adoption and psychological conferences around the country. Her articles on adoption have appeared in various publications.

Dr. Russell is a member of the Adoptee’s Liberty Movement Association, American Adoption Congress, Concerned United Birthparents, Council for Equal Rights in Adoption, Kinship Alliance, and Resolve.

She is a member of the following professional associations: California Psychological Association, Los Angeles County Psychological Association, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and the Los Angeles Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Dr. Russell is listed in Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America, Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care, and Who’s Who in the World.
Adoption, Love and Letters. Edward William Herman. 2004. 213p. Anointed Quill Publications.
Tragic events in our past have a cruel way of stealing the joy from our present. Ed Herman’s young, unwed mother gave away her son at birth, the result of a horrific relationship. He was adopted and grew up a mile away from the birth mother he never knew. A nightmare would cause their separation to last for thirty-four years. A miracle would cause their reunion to last for an eternity! This true, miraculous story of forgiveness, emotional healing, and brand-new beginnings—as told with the help of many heartwarming letters—will show you that nothing is impossible with God!
“The Adoption”. Barbara Harbeson. 2013. Originally published in A Potpourri of Prose and Poetry by Little Bear Press.
From the Publisher: A Potpourri of Prose and Poetry is a miscellany of stories, poems, memoirs and essays. Some sad, some merry. Some longer, some shorter. Some sweet, some sharp. Some odd, some wry. Some even life-changing for the author. All written from the heart and each a contribution from the Chestertown, Maryland, Writers Group. A hardy bunch of people who love to write, laugh together and share their tales. Come join us inside our book and enjoy.
Adoptionland: From Orphans to Activists. Janine Myung Ja, Michael Allen Potter & Allen Vance, eds. 2014. 222p. Against Child Trafficking USA.
From the Back Cover:

Intercountry Perspectives from Families Separated by Adoption from
Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Lebanon,
Norway, Romania, Scotland, South Korea, Sweden, UK, and the US.

Did you know most children who are adopted internationally are not actually
orphans, but have been given the label in order to be shipped overseas?

If you were adopted, if you have lost a child to adoption, if you are a member of
a family that has been separated by adoption, or if you have worked on behalf of
the victims who have been trafficked for adoption, you are not alone. This
collection is for you and will validate your adoption experience.

For more than sixty years, facilitators have promoted
their own versions of the adoption story.

Now it is our turn.

In the past, adopted people have accepted incomplete paperwork,
dismissed our origins, and accepted our second-class citizenry.

Not anymore.

A global human rights movement is now in motion that values people over profit
and family preservation over adoption separation. With this new collection,
we are proud to present some of the loudest and softest voices in this
international campaign for social Justice.

Contributors: Casper Andersen, Lily Arthur, Trace DeMeyer, Peter Dodds, Arun Dohle, Darelle Duncan, Erica Gehringer, Jeffrey Hancock, Bob Honecker, Cameron Horn, Tobias Hubinette, Sunny Jo Johnsen, Kristina Laine, Lakshmi, Tinan Leroy, Georgiana A. Macavei, Marion McMillan, Khara Nine, Colette Noonan, Cryptic Omega, Vanessa Pearce, Michael Allen Potter, Paul Redmond, Lucy Sheen, Joe Soll, Vance Twins and Daniel Ibn Zayd.
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