previous pageDisplaying 1-30 of 108next page

Adopted?: A Canadian Guide For Adopted Adults in Search of Their Origins. Clare Marcus. 1979. 108p. International Self-Counsel Press (Canada).
By the Same Author: Who Is My Mother?: Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Adoptees Talk About Living With Adoption and the Search for Lost Family (1981, Macmillan).

Adoptee Search: The California Guide. Lisa Kenefick. 2012. 17p. (Kindle eBook) L Kenefick.
A detailed, step-by-step guide to finding an adoptee’s original birth record in California.

Adoption Agencies, Orphanages and Maternity Homes: An Historical Directory. Reg Niles. 1981. 478p. (Two Volumes in One) Phileas Deigh Corp.
Volume 1: Alabama through New York; Volume 2: North Carolina through Wyoming and Canada.


Evelyn and Stephen
Edinburgh, August 1998
Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief. Evelyn Burns Robinson. 2000. 250p. (2003. Revised edition; 2018. 21st Century Edition. CreateSpace) Clova Publications (Australia).
From the Publisher: What becomes of women who give up their children for adoption? Why do so many adopted people feel such a strong desire to seek out their families of origin? In what ways are families with adopted children different from other families? This book by Evelyn Robinson provides the answers to these questions and many others. Evelyn Robinson gave up her son for adoption as a young student. She then returned to study many years later in a bid to understand her experience and its outcomes. She tells her story of an unplanned, teenage pregnancy and its aftermath and then describes the insights that she gained as a social worker into all aspects of adoption and how it affects those who are adopted, those who adopt and those whose children are adopted by others. Her startling conclusion about the future of adoption is challenging and controversial. This book is a brave and compelling exploration of both personal experience and academic research. Her powerful message, about the consequences of adoption, is one which no society in the world can afford to ignore.

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 Recovery: Solving the Mystery of Reunion (2004); Adoption Reunion: Ecstasy or Agony? (2009); and Adoption Separation: Then and Now (2010).



Evelyn and Stephen
Christies Beach, March 2004
Adoption and Recovery: Solving the Mystery of Reunion. Evelyn Burns Robinson. 2004. 250p. (A Companion Volume to Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief) Clova Publications (Australia).
From the Publisher: Evelyn Robinson has followed up the international success of her first book Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief, with this companion volume. This unique book, based on Evelyn’s personal and professional experiences, is essential reading, both for those who have read and appreciated her first book and for those who want to understand the long term impact of adoption separation on people’s lives and the meaning of the reunion experience.

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 Reunion: Ecstasy or Agony? (2009); and Adoption Separation: Then and Now (2010).


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 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.

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 101: A Guide for All Persons Involved in Adoption Searches. Cindy Soper. 2009. 404p. True Investigative & Paralegal Services.
Cindy Soper, a licensed private investigator, provides a wealth of traditional search techniques and tips based on her own successes in finding people.

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 Separation: Then and Now. Evelyn Burns Robinson. 2010. 250p. Clova Publications (Australia).
From the Publisher: This is Evelyn Robinson’s fourth book about adoption. For the first time, Evelyn has produced a book which includes the work of others. Forty-five parents who have lost children to adoption in seven different countries were generous enough to allow Evelyn to publish their narratives. Their stories make poignant and, at times, harrowing reading. Their contributions represent adoption as it was then (i.e., between 1958 and 1989) and Evelyn has added some information and some of her own opinions on adoption as it is now. Together they provide compelling and thought-provoking reading and will contribute in a very positive way to validating the feelings of those who have experienced adoption separation and educating the community around those experiences and the resulting outcomes.

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 Reunion: Ecstasy or Agony? (2009).


Adoption, Search and Reunion: The Long-Term Experience of Adopted Adults. David Howe & Julia Feast. Foreword by John Triseliotis. 2000. 210p. (2003. With Deinse Coster. Reprint edition, with a new Introduction. BAAF.) The Children’s Society (UK).
From the Back Cover (Reprint edition): Why do some adopted adults decide to search for their natural parents while others do not? This fascinating study is the first to provide real answers to that question, by comparing a group of adopted people who searched for birth relatives with a group who did not.

Using nearly 500 adopted people, the research looked in detail at all the possible influences on their decision—their adoption experience, their sense of belonging or difference in the family, when and how much they were told about their origins, whether this was openly discussed in the family, transracial or same-race adoption, and their gender. As the “non-searchers” were contacted by a birth relative, the authors were also able to compare the two groups’ experiences of reunion, its duration and its effect on their feelings towards their adoptive parents.

Adoption, Search and Reunion is a rare combination: a meticulous presentation of sound research findings and a thoroughly absorbing read. The extensive quotes from adoptive people create a compelling narrative about their personal struggle to resolve fundamental dilemmas of identity, origins and relationships. At the same time, its important findings and intelligent analysis will make it indispensable not only for adoption workers but also for all those concerned with the identity needs of children.


Back to the Beginning: Remarkable True Stories of Adoption Searches and Reunions From the Case Files of Research Etc.. Ava Nell Friddle, Judy Carol Andrews & Kristen Elizabeth Hamilton, PIs, with Joe Bardin. 2008. 196p. Research Etc., Inc.
From the Publisher: Back to the Beginning is a compilation of true adoption search stories and offers a fascinating glimpse into the often secretive world of search and reunion from the viewpoints of triad members and the private investigators who worked on their cases. This book offers not only true stories that touch the heart, but invaluable experience in understanding the dynamics of adoption searches and reunions.

About the Author: Research Etc, Inc., is a licensed P.I. firm located in Scottsdale, AZ, that was founded in 1995 by sisters Kristen Hamilton and Judy Andrews, along with their mother, Ava Friddle, which specializes in adoption searches. For over a decade, the firm has helped facilitate a wide range of adoption reunions, from the initial search through first contact and beyond, sharing in every emotion with its clients, from joy to heartbreak. Judy and Kristen are also Certified Confidential Intermediaries for Arizona’s C.I. Program.

Joe Bardin is a professional writer based in Scottsdale, AZ, and his literary works on varied subjects have appeared in numerous publications nationally.


Before the Search: An Adoption Searcher’s Primer. Michele Heiderer. 1997. 80p. Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe.
With this book, the author wants to educate you with the necessary knowledge BEFORE you begin your search. Chapters include: The Glossary; State Law; The Birth Certificate; The Adoption File; State and National Registries; Help Is Available and State Guidelines.

Birth Mother Search: Some Day I’ll Find Her: A True Story of a Daughter’s Search for Her ‘Natural’ Mother. EB Schumacher. 1993. 96p. Larksdale Press.
I had always wondered about finding my birth mother, but until I was 35 years old, I had never done anything about it. Finally, I decided to take the plunge. I knew it would be difficult, but little did I know just how difficult it was going to be. First of all, I love my parents. They raised me and I appreciate all of the many opportunities in my life that would not otherwise have been available without their loving care. So it was only natural that I did not want to hurt them in any way. But it is my life to live, I am grown up now, and in my heart I think I am entitled to at least know about my birth mother if I am able to find her. I know. She may not want to see me. She may not have told anyone, particularly her present family about me. It has been so long. She may not want me in her life in any way. She probably has tried her best to forget that I ever happened. But whatever the truth is, I WANT TO KNOW. This book is about my search, and my discovery of my birth mother. I am not going to tell you whether it turned out good or bad. You will have to read the book to find out. But what I can tell you is since I had so much trouble with the search, I have given you an outline on how you can do your own search and perhaps avoid some of the pitfalls that I had to go through. — E.B. Schumacher

Birthbond: Reunions Between Birthparents and Adoptees: What Happens After. Judith S Gediman & Linda P Brown. 1989. 285p. New Horizon Press.
What happens when birth parents and the children that they’ve placed for adoption meet? The authors of Birthbond conducted intensive interviews with 30 birth mothers who had successfully searched or been found. In addition, they talked with adoptees, members of the birth family, adoptive parents, adoption professionals and others involved with adoption in order to discover the impact of reunions on the lives of all who may be affected by adoption reunions.

About the Author: Judith S. Gediman, a research professional with degrees from Smith College and Harvard University, is currently principal and co-owner of a marketing research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Linda P. Brown, an early childhood educator, is a birthmother whose post-reunion is currently in its fourth year. She is legislative director of the American Adoption Congress.


Birthright: The Guide to Search and Reunion for Adoptees, Birthparents and Adoptive Parents. Jean Strauss. Foreword by Clariss Pinkola Estes, PhD. 1994. 363p. Penguin.
From the Back Cover: What happens when an adoptee decides to locate a birthparent or a birthparent wants to find a child given up long ago? How does one search for people whose names one does not know? And what happens during a reunion? In 1983, Jean A. S. Strauss was faced with these questions when she began her search for her birthmother, and in this inspiring new handbook, she shares her experience. Strauss will help you throughout this significant time. Brimming with important reference sources and dozens of true-life stories, this valuable resource will guide you in:

• Making the difficult decision to search

• Navigating through the emotional turbulence of a reunion

• Dealing with the impact of the search on the adoptive parents

Compassionate and insightful, Birthright is for anyone seeking to connect with someone long lost.


About the Author: Jean Strauss is the wife of a college president and the author of Birthright (Penguin) and lives in Claremont, California.


By the Same Author: The Great Adoptee Search Book (1990, Castle Rock Publishing) and Beneath a Tall Tree: A Story About Us (2001, Arete Publishing Co.).


The Blue Book 2000: The Adoption Re-Connection Directory, Search and Support Referral Source. C Curry Wolfe, ed. 2000. 91p. (9th edition. Spiral-bound. Unnumbered pages.) C Curry Wolfe.
This annual directory is one of the more comprehensive collections of names and addresses of groups and individuals who offer assistance and/or support to the searching adoptee or birth parent. [Available from the publisher: C Curry Wolf, P.O. Box 230643, Encinitas, CA 92023-0643.]

Confessions of a Lost Mother. Elisa M Barton, ed. 1996. 157p. EM Barton.
The question came in the form of an e-mail message from a young adoptee. It was the first time that Elisa Barton had been asked this question in the 19 years since she had relinquished her newborn son for adoption. Encouraged by this and other questions which had been asked and answered via online communication, Ms. Barton soon decided to write of her experiences and the experiences of others: experiences chronicled in electronic postings the various adoption forums of the Internet. Ms. Barton’s book is an extraordinary exploration of adoption: its text emerges not from the pens of “experts” but from the hearts, minds, and keyboards of members of the adoption triad. While not everyone will agree with Ms. Barton’s conclusions regarding adoption, one cannot come away from reading this book without having his or her own assumptions about adoption practice challenged.

Elephants Never Forget: Relationships Between Birth Parents and Adoptees. Kay Coleman & Eileen Jenkins. 1998. 148p. Signature Publications (UK).
This book addresses the processes, problems, sorrows and joys of reunions between birth parents and adopted people.

The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy: A Complete Resource for Using the Web to Trace Your Family History. Kimberly Powell. 2008. 304p. (2011. 2nd ed. 304p.; 2013. 3rd ed. 304p.) Adams Media.
Use online tools to discover your family’s history! Thanks to the overwhelming number of genealogical records available online today, it’s never been easier to trace your family history and find your roots. But where do you begin? With all that information, it can be impossible to know where to start! In The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy, 3rd Edition, genealogy expert Kimberly Powell guides you through the process of finding your ancestors, helping you:
• Effectively search various websites
• Decipher census data and other online records
• Choose the best way to share data with family members
• Connect with other genealogists through social media
Packed with tips on using free databases, new websites, and a growing number of genealogy apps, The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy, 3rd Edition has everything you need to scour the Internet and find your ancestors, going back generations!

Facing Up to Facebook. Eileen Fursland. 2010. 104p. British Association for Adoption & Fostering (UK).
The “social” use of the Internet has had a huge impact on society and the way people communicate with one another. Social networking sites such as Facebook have made finding and contacting people easier than ever before, with both positive and negative outcomes. The use of Facebook has already had an impact on many adoptive families and has the potential to affect many more. Increasingly, young people are using it and other web sites to trace and contact their birth parents and other birth relatives. Birth relatives are using the Internet to trace their children. Once they have made contact, adopted young people may go on to have phone calls and even meetings with their birth parents or brothers and sisters—often in secret and therefore bypassing the support and safeguards that are usually in place. Facing up to Facebook examines the way the Internet, social networking and other technologies are changing the landscape of adoption contact, search and reunion. It is the first UK guide to explore the many pressing questions and concerns facing adoptive parents:
• What do adoptive families, adopted children and birth families need to know about adoption in the Facebook age?
• How can they be equipped for new challenges?
• What do adoptive parents need to know about protecting privacy and security in the best interests of their children and wider family?
• How can adoptive parents manage the complex situations that arise from unauthorised and unmediated contact?
• What help and support is available?
The guide demystifies the technology behind social networking sites, provides a practical explanation of how they work and tackles key issues such as Internet safety, privacy and identity protection. Facing up to Facebook provides a considerable amount of information, raises important questions and offers essential advice. Case studies and quotations enable others’ experiences to be shared, and reveal the potential and very significant risks that some people have experienced. Although it does not provide any easy answers, the guide does include hard-won insights from adoptive parents and adoption workers who have had to face up to the impact of Facebook.

Faint Trails: An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Adult Adoptee-Birth Parent Reunification Searches. Hal Aigner. 1980. 104p. (Initially published in a Western States Edition) (Revised edition issued in 1987) Paradigm Press.
From the Back Cover: In a nation in which more than 25 million lives are touched by the adoption process, reunifications between adult adoptees and the birth parents who relinquished them for adoption have been on the steady increase for more than three decades.

Today, this trend is represented by hundreds of thousands of individuals engaged in what is commonly known as the search and reunification movement, a mix of more than 200 search self-help organizations providing moral support and technical assistance to adoptees, birth parents, birth siblings, and adoptive parents alike, plus countless independent searchers proceeding largely on their own efforts.

The techniques employed by this movement are those of a private investigator, with particular emphasis being placed on research in public records, a vast repository of information embodied in vital statistics indexes, court documents, professional association membership directories, and numerous other sources of the names, dates, locations and personal details needed for a search’s completion.

Faint Trails summarizes the ways and means of search activity focusing on the most frequently taken opportunities for public records research and funding in general and genealogical libraries, as well as in federal, state and county municipal archives.


About the Author: The book’s author, Hal Aigner, has also released Adoption in America Coming of Age, a history and analysis of American adoption as seen from the viewpoint of the search and reunification movement. He is an adoptee who completed his search for his birth parents more than a decade ago. He has been active with The ALMA Society, a national search self-help organization.


By the Same Author: Adoption in America Coming of Age (1986).


A Family Secret, a Rabble Rouser and the Unmarked Grave. Beverley J Prideaux. 2014. 32p. Beverley Prideaux.
Three compelling reasons to preserve your family history. A short introduction to the benefits of having documented histories for families, communities and multi-generational businesses. It tells a story from the era of forced adoptions, where a family history document was able to determine the truth (or not) of an unexpected claim. In another example the famed Eureka Stockade on the Australian Goldfields had political and social ramifications for a family 150 years after the event. Again, the preservation of personal documents saved the day. Discover how the saving of your family’s memories could be vitally important for you.


Second Edition
Find Anyone Fast: By Phone, Fax, Mail and Computer. Richard S Johnson & Debra Johnson Knox. 1995. 175p. (1997. 2nd ed. 261p.; 2001. 3rd ed. 261p.) Military Information Enterprises.
Rapid growth in the ways in which information is shared has made it easier than ever to find long-lost friends and family members. What once involved searching through public records, documents, and piles of paperwork now can be accomplished with a click of the mouse in the right direction. This guide provides that direction by unlocking the secrets of professional private investigators and explaining how the public can use the latest resources and technology. Included are directories of sites that allow a person to be located by telephone number, sites that list voter registration records and death records, and listings of databases for lawyers, doctors, pilots, members of the military, and more.

Finding Our Families: A First-of-Its-Kind Book for Donor-Conceived People and Their Families. Wendy Kramer & Naomi Cahn, JD. 2013. 288p. Avery.
From the Back Cover: The first comprehensive book to offer invaluable step-by-step advice for families with donor-conceived children.

Wendy Kramer, founder and director of the Donor Sibling Registry, and Naomi Cahn, family and reproductive law professor, have compiled a comprehensive and thorough guide for the growing community of families with donor-conceived children. Kramer and Cahn believe that all donor-conceived children’s desire to know their genetic family must be honored, and in Finding Our Families, they offer advice on how to foster healthy relationships within immediate families and their larger donor family networks based on openness and acceptance.

With honesty and compassion, the authors offer thoughtful strategies and inspirational stories to help parents answer their own, and their children’s, questions and concerns that will surely arise, including:

How to support your children’s curiosity and desire to know about their ancestry and genetic and medical background.

How to help children integrate their birth story into a healthy self-image.

How to help your children search for their donor or half-siblings if and when they express interest in doing so.

Finding Our Families opens up the lives of donor-conceived people who may be coping with uncertainty, thriving despite it, and finding novel ways to connect in this uncharted territory as they navigate the challenges and rewards of the world of donor conception.


About the Author: Wendy Kramer created the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR) website with her donor-conceived son, Ryan, in 2000 in the hope of connecting children conceived through sperm, egg, or embryo donation with their donors and half-siblings. Today, the DSR has more than 40,000 members. She lives in Nederland, Colorado.

Naomi Cahn is the Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. She is internationally recognized for her research and writing on adoption. She lives in Washoington, D.C.


By the Same Author: Families By Law: An Adoption Reader (with Joan Heifetz Hollinger; 2004, New York University Press); Test Tube Families: Why the Fertility Market Needs Legal Regulation (2009, New York University Press); and The New Kinship: Constructing Donor-Conceived Families (2013, New York University Press), among others.


previous pageDisplaying 1-30 of 108next page