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Books > Health, Home & Family > Family & health > Family & other relationships > Adoption & tracing birth parents
Tilly hates her stepfather, Dave. He abuses her mother, but she
refuses to leave him. Frightened for her own safety, Tilly asks to
go into foster care and is placed with Cathy. Tilly arrives with a
graze on her cheek and Cathy becomes increasingly concerned by
Dave's behaviour, especially when she learns he has been showering
Tilly with gifts. While she's busy looking after Tilly and trying
to keep her safe, Cathy is also worried about her own daughter,
Lucy. She has a very difficult decision to make that will affect
the rest of her life, and Cathy hopes she makes the right choice.
For anyone considering or going through Fostering for Adoption,
this book gives you a detailed, personal account of the process
which takes you through all the stages and prepares you to cope
with the highs and lows. Fostering for Adoption is a relatively
recent initiative (Children and Families Act, 2014) in the adoption
legal landscape, seeking early permanence for babies and young
children where adoption is most likely to be the plan for the
child. This is often cited as a route to be in the best interests
of the child, enabling secure attachments and stability. However,
for adopters it is inherently risky, it is the adopters who take on
the risk in this situation, accept the placement on a fostering
basis and hope that the final outcome will be adoption. There is
currently a knowledge gap on experiences of Fostering for Adoption
which this book tackles. Written from an adopters' perspective of
the risks and challenges, as well as the benefits that it brings,
it is perfect for those who are considering the process as well as
their friends and family. A book on Fostering for Adoption can't
just focus on one story and one outcome so we've included case
studies which cover the key experiences adopters may face when
agreeing to accept a baby on a Foster to Adopt placement such as:
Caring for a baby a few days after birth The paperwork, rules and
fostering process The uncertainty and risk Meeting with birth
parents Contact Looking after a withdrawing baby A termination of
placement Written in an engaging and friendly style, this book is
perfect reading for anyone looking to adopt a child and for
adoption professionals seeking to understand the experience of the
adopter more profoundly. Praise for Fostering for Adoption "As
someone who has been through a similar journey this book resonated
with me. It is honest about the ups and downs and is a great,
informative book for anybody thinking of taking this route or who
have family or friends that are. I can say that this book will help
anyone at the beginning of their journey, to help them through the
process and - start the lifetime of learning about how we can
support our children." Lisa Faulkner, Author, Meant to be "Alice's
book will be a great companion to anyone considering or starting on
the foster to adopt process. It is well-researched and written and
doesn't shy away from the many complexities and the considerations
that adults must make in the best interests of children." Sally
Donovan, Author of No Matter What, and Editor of Adoption Today "I
thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, I found myself laughing and
getting emotional throughout. As someone who has themselves been
adopted, but who is also a social worker who has now adopted a
child, this book is brilliant from every angle. A must read for
anyone considering Fostering for Adoption." Jo, Social Worker,
Midlands "This book gives a balanced and honest view of the whole
Fostering for Adoption journey. It gets to the emotions and
seriousness of decisions being made about children's lives. This is
an important read for any potential adopter and will be on our book
lists for sure" Angi, Social Worker, Adoption Tees Valley
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A remarkable autobiography' Andrew
Billen, The Times 'You're struck by his raw honesty in tackling big
issues head-on' Tom Bryant, Daily Mirror 'So full of heart' Davina
McCall 'I was riveted by it in a heartbreaking way . . . you will
be gripped' Ranvir Singh, Lorraine 'So moving . . . it's a
beautiful book' Zoe Ball 'Commendable honesty . . . a poignant book
about the search for belonging' Daily Express 'Remarkable . . .
contains a lesson for all of us and delivers a resounding message
of hope and of love' James O'Brien ************* The brave and
moving memoir by Long Lost Family presenter and Radio 5 breakfast
show host Nicky Campbell reveals how the simple unconditional love
of Maxwell, his Labrador, turned his life around and helped him
come to terms with his difficult journey as an adopted child. Raw,
honest and courageous in One of the Family, Nicky opens up about
how being adopted has made him always feel like an outsider; the
guilt he has carried towards his Mum and Dad for needing to trace
his birth mother, and the crushing disappointment he felt when he
finally met her. And for the first time, he writes about his
emotional breakdown and how he has learned to live with a late
diagnosis of bipolar. Through it all his passion for dogs and
animals has been a lifeline. It is Maxwell's magic, a lesson from a
Labrador in simple unconditional friendship, that has allowed him
to see all the good in his life: from the security and safety of
his childhood home, the love of his wife and four daughters and
above all, to better understand the decisions taken by his birth
mother to give him up for adoption.
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Suspension
(Paperback)
Paige Riehl; Edited by Diane Lockward
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R411
R336
Discovery Miles 3 360
Save R75 (18%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Explores the role played by missionaries in the twentieth-century
transnational adoption movement Between 1953 and 2018,
approximately 170,000 Korean children were adopted by families in
dozens of different countries, with Americans providing homes to
more than two-thirds of them. In an iconic photo taken in 1955,
Harry and Bertha Holt can be seen descending from a Pan American
World Airways airplane with twelve Asian babies-eight for their
family and four for other families. As adoptive parents and
evangelical Christians who identified themselves as missionaries,
the Holts unwittingly became both the metaphorical and literal
parental figures in the growing movement to adopt transnationally.
Missionaries pioneered the transnational adoption movement in
America. Though their role is known, there has not yet been a full
historical look at their theological motivations-which varied
depending on whether they were evangelically or ecumenically
focused-and what the effects were for American society, relations
with Asia, and thinking about race more broadly. Adopting for God
shows that, somewhat surprisingly, both evangelical and ecumenical
Christians challenged Americans to redefine traditional familial
values and rethink race matters. By questioning the perspective
that equates missionary humanitarianism with unmitigated cultural
imperialism, this book offers a more nuanced picture of the rise of
an important twentieth-century movement: the evangelization of
adoption and the awakening of a new type of Christian mission.
In the thirty-five years since China instituted its One-Child
Policy, 120,000 children--mostly girls--have left China through
international adoption, including 85,000 to the United States. It's
generally assumed that this diaspora is the result of China's
approach to population control, but there is also the underlying
belief that the majority of adoptees are daughters because the
One-Child Policy often collides with the traditional preference for
a son. While there is some truth to this, it does not tell the full
story--a story with deep personal resonance to Kay Ann Johnson, a
China scholar and mother to an adopted Chinese daughter. Johnson
spent years talking with the Chinese parents driven to relinquish
their daughters during the brutal birth-planning campaigns of the
1990s and early 2000s, and, with China's Hidden Children, she
paints a startlingly different picture. The decision to give up a
daughter, she shows, is not a facile one, but one almost always
fraught with grief and dictated by fear. Were it not for the
constant threat of punishment for breaching the country's stringent
birth-planning policies, most Chinese parents would have raised
their daughters despite the cultural preference for sons. With
clear understanding and compassion for the families, Johnson
describes their desperate efforts to conceal the birth of second or
third daughters from the authorities. As the Chinese government
cracked down on those caught concealing an out-of-plan child,
strategies for surrendering children changed--from arranging
adoptions or sending them to live with rural family to secret
placement at carefully chosen doorsteps and, finally, abandonment
in public places. In the twenty-first century, China's so-called
abandoned children have increasingly become "stolen" children, as
declining fertility rates have left the dwindling number of
children available for adoption more vulnerable to child
trafficking. In addition, government seizures of locally--but
illegally--adopted children and children hidden within their birth
families mean that even legal adopters have unknowingly adopted
children taken from parents and sent to orphanages. The image of
the "unwanted daughter" remains commonplace in Western conceptions
of China. With China's Hidden Children, Johnson reveals the complex
web of love, secrecy, and pain woven in the coerced decision to
give one's child up for adoption and the profound negative impact
China's birth-planning campaigns have on Chinese families.
The experience of adoption-both adopting and being adopted-can stir
up deep emotional pain, often related to loss and early trauma. A
for Adoption provides insight and support to those families and
individuals facing these complex processes and challenges. Drawing
on both a psychoanalytic, theoretical framework and first-hand
accounts of adopters, adoptees, and professionals within the
adoption process, Alison Roy responds to the need for further and
consistent support for adoptive parents and children, to help
inform and understand the reality of their everyday lives. This
book explores both the current and historical context of adoption,
as well as its depiction within literature, before addressing
issues such as conflict in relationships, the impact of significant
trauma and loss, attachment and the importance of early
relationships, and contact with birth families. Uniquely, this book
addresses the experiences of, and provides support for, both
adoptive professionals and families. It focuses on understanding
rather than apportioning blame, and responds to a plea from a
parent who requested "a book to help me understand my child
better".
"Impossible to put down, makes you laugh and cry, Sophie's story is
inspirational. It gives us so much hope and encouragement. I don't
think we would be where we are on our own journey without her
advice." OLLIE LOCKE "A read so twisty your heart pounds as you
turn the pages." THE SUNDAY TIMES Brave, funny and honest,
columnist Sophie Beresiner takes us on her complex journey to
parenthood and shows us that there's more than one way to become a
mother. Sophie's journey to motherhood began aged 30 with a cancer
diagnosis that stole her fertility. Today, Sophie is older, wiser
(and agonisingly excellent at hindsight), and somewhat battered.
Through interminable cycles of hope and failure, her infertility
story spanned three countries, five surrogates and a debt she'd
rather not dwell on. Part memoir, part manifesto, The Mother
Project is the epic story of Sophie's quest for happiness.
Exploring the complexities, expectations and injustices faced by
millions of women across the world, it is a book that is both
personal and universal.
Investigates social parents – people who function as parents but
who may not be recognized as such in the eyes of the law What makes
a person a parent? Around the world, same-sex couples are raising
children; parents are separating and re-partnering, creating
blended families; and children are living with grandparents, family
friends, and other caregivers. In these situations, there is often
an adult who acts like a parent but who is unconnected to the child
through biogenetics, marriage, or adoption—the common paths for
establishing legal parenthood. In many countries, this person is
called a “social parent.” Psychologically, and especially from
a child’s point of view, a social parent is a parent. But the
legal status of a social parent is hotly debated. Social Parenthood
in Comparative Perspective considers how the law does—and how it
should—recognize social parenthood. The book begins with a
psychological account of social parenthood, establishing the
importance of a relationship between a child and a social parent
and the harms of not protecting this relationship. It then turns to
social scientists to identify and explore some circumstances when a
child may have a social parent. And to compare legal responses to
social parenthood, the book draws on the expertise of legal
scholars in nine countries in North America and Europe. The legal
contributors describe the existing laws governing social parents,
critique their efficacy, and offer new insights. Though almost all
of the countries analyzed have adapted to the new reality of family
life by recognizing social parents in some manner, the nature and
extent of the recognition varies widely. The volume concludes by
discussing some of the issues flowing from the decision to
recognize social parents, including whether social parents should
have the same legal rights and responsibilities as other legal
parents, whether all social parents must be treated identically,
whether the law should limit a child to two parents, and much more.
Families are changing, and the law must adapt accordingly. Social
Parenthood in Comparative Perspective charts a way forward by
offering solutions to help policymakers consider options for
addressing social parenthood.
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