John Sonego and his partner, Michael, had always wanted to start a family. Little did they know they would become the fathers of not one, not two, but three precious boys.

"My Three Sons" shares the heartwarming true story of this incredible family. Born to a drug-addicted mother and taken from her after a string of arrests, the three biological brothers come to their new home to begin a new life. With John and Michael's unconditional love and acceptance, the five became an instant family, learning to lean on each other for the support and devotion only a family can give.

Poignant and funny, heartbreaking and inspiring, "My Three Sons" recounts one family's life and reaffirms the transformative power of love in children's lives.

""This is the story of five very lucky people, three brothers and the two men who raise them. The story of how this family came to be is inspirational but it's more than that. It reminds us of one simple and powerful truth - that in raising children, it is often difficult to determine who is the teacher and who is the student. John's journey is proof that in parenting you get as much as you give.""

-Joan Garry, former executive director of GLAAD, activist, and parent

AUTHOR BIO
John Sonego is an author, adjunct professor, and consultant serving internationally respected health, education, and advocacy organizations. He writes about social, spiritual and family issues as a Midwesterner, progressive Christian, national gay advocate, adoptive parent, and active citizen of the broader community. Sonego received a BA from the University of Michigan and a MA from the University of Santa Monica. He and his family live in Hollywood, California.

Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2022 Craig Bromfield was just 13 years old when Brian Clough, on a whim, took him and his older brother Aaron in. They came from Southwick, a depressed area of Sunderland, where they lived with their abusive stepfather, and from where they longed to escape. After initially meeting Clough while out begging for money, Clough later invited the brothers to stay at his house. From there a relationship formed which would see Craig living with the Cloughs for nine years, where he was a first-hand witness to the many aspects of Clough's character - his gruffness, his humour, his big-heartedness. This is a beautiful, inspirational story, which has never before been told, about Clough's gentleness and capacity for generosity. Discover a very different side to this iconic man, one away from the cameras and the football, which shows him for the person he really was.

In his startling new memoir, Mike Chalek reveals how the adoption practices of the "Baby Scoop Era" led to his fraudulent placement with an adoptive family that had purchased him for $200 from a well-known baby broker. He delves into the details of his highly charged quest to reunite with his family of origin, and we get a first-hand glimpse into the difficulties faced by many adult adoptees in the US today. Mike's quest did not end with reunion, however. After obtaining a court order to unseal his closed adoption record, he set legal precedent by suing to have his fraudulent adoption overturned. As groundbreaking as his victory was, adoptee rights have not experienced the hoped-for boost that he thought might follow. In this book, Mike seeks to set the record straight and tell the story of the one member of the adoption triad whose voice has been broadly ignored to this point: that of the adult adoptee.

What to do when you've been called to adopt and practical advice to make it workMary Ostyn married her sweetheart at nineteen, and the pair had four kids by their eighth anniversary. When their youngest was three, God opened their eyes to the needs of orphans all over the world-and answered Mary's longing for another baby. Over the next nine years the couple adopted two boys from Korea and four girls from Ethiopia.Ostyn, a beloved adoption writer and blogger, shares-alongside stories from other adoptive families-the practical tools and resources she uses to thrive as an adoptive mom. In Forever Mom, she reveals how to:build heart connections prepare your other children for new siblingshelp babies, toddlers, and older children settle in implement attachment parentingaddress misbehavior while remaining connectednurture your marriage in the midst of it allWhether you're the parent of an adopted child or interested in pursuing adoption, Ostyn's warm advice and fresh perspective will inspire, inform, and affirm. You'll walk away confident you will be the perfect mom for whatever child God brings into your life.

Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son. Struggling to cope, she puts Jackson into foster care. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened to his family, but he just won't engage. His actions continue to test and worry everyone. Then, in a dramatic turn of events, the true reason for Jackson's behaviour comes to light ...

Like cowboys turning in the saddle to look at where they came from, Searching for the Castle documents the backtrail of author Barbara Leigh Ohrstrom's adoption. It begins with her urgency as an eighteen-year-old woman initiating her search for her birth parents. Her recollection includes court petitions, letters, Division of Social Service documents, and other original documents usually buried behind the lock and key of the law. In this memoir, she narrates the unearthing of her history and that of her family. Some of her discoveries are filled with pain, while others are joyful, including locating sisters, another brother, and eventually nieces and a nephew. A story of how one woman comes to terms with her identity, Searching for the Castle tells of real people doing the best they can to live and love in the often heartbreaking circumstances of life. As Ohrstrom shares her journey to find her birth parents, she reveals her emotions throughout the process, discovering that her identity is self-created, but also that her being is governed, in part, by her ancestors and family lines. Searching for the Castle communicates the message that love creates families and that the family to which Ohrstrom belonged in foster care gave her a mother, father, and family filled with love and decency.

Breakthrough Treatment Offers New Hope for Recovery
Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition with 3 new chapters on adolescents
"Gentling" represents a new paradigm in the therapeutic approach to children who have experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and have acquired Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result. This text redefines PTSD in child abuse survivors by identifying child-specific behavioral signs commonly seen, and offers a means to individualize treatment and measure therapeutic outcomes through understanding each suffering child's unique symptom profile. The practical and easily understood Gentling approaches and techniques can be easily learned by clinicians, parents, foster parents, teachers and all other care givers of these children to effect real and lasting healing. With this book, you will: Learn child-specific signs of PTSD in abused children Learn how to manage the often intense reactivity seen in stress episodes Gain the practical, gentle, and effective treatment tools that really help these children Use the Child Stress Profile (CSP) to guide treatment and measure outcomes Deploy handy 'Quick Teach Sheets' that can be copied and handed to foster parents, teachers, and social workers
Clinicians Acclaim for "Gentling"
"In this world where children are often disenfranchised in trauma care--and all too often treated with the same techniques as adults--Krill makes a compelling case for how to adapt proven post-trauma treatment to the world of a child."
--Michele Rosenthal, HealMyPTSD.com
"Congratulations to Krill when he says that 'being gentle' cannot be over-emphasized in work with the abused."
--Andrew D. Gibson, PhD Author of "Got an Angry Kid? Parenting Spike, A Seriously Difficult Child"
"William Krill's book is greatly needed. PTSD is the most common aftermath of child abuse and often domestic abuse as well. There is a critical scarcity of mental-health professionals who know how to recognize child abuse, let alone treat it."
--Fr. Heyward B. Ewart, III, Ph.D., St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, author of "AM I BAD? Recovering From Abuse"w
Cover photo by W.A. Krill/ Fighting Chance Photography
Learn more at www.Gentling.org
From the New Horizons in Therapy Series at Loving Healing Press www.LovingHealing.com
Available in hardcover, trade paper, and eBook editions
FAM001010 Family & Relationships: Abuse - Child Abuse
PSY022040 Psychology: Psychopathology - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
FAM004000 Family & Relationships: Adoption & Fostering

Marshalling her experience as an expert witness in court proceedings on non-consensual, confidential adoption in Israel, Mass describes legal proceedings following the Israeli state petition that declares children eligible for adoption because of alleged parental incapability, and explores the politics of state intervention in the parent/child relationship. The selected case studies present the testimonies of the children, the parents, the designated adoptive parents, and the state's representatives, as well as the author's own testimony.