""Parents By Choice" is an excellent guide for researching adoption as a method for building a family. It is informative and enjoyable. I highly recommend this book for any prospective parent or parents wishing to pursue a domestic or international adoption."
--Chriss Barnes, Small Miracles International

"Few books move me to tears and laughter any more, but "Parents By Choice" did. The book is wonderful, so full of humor and warmth."
--Judy Stigger, LCSW, The Cradle Society, Author of "Coping with Infertility" and "Conspicuous Families"

"Parents By Choice" is a user-friendly book with easy to digest chapters, terminology, and questions concerning adoption and parenting of an infant and a toddler. "Parents By Choice" is an invaluable resource for potential parents, explaining the paperwork, financial, and emotional expectations of adoption as a normal, healthy option for creating a family. The authors, adoptive parents, present their story in an honest, engaging dialog full of knowledge and perspectives, which allow for a realistic view of living the process.

Adopting a child can be one of life's most rewarding experiences. Unfortunately, complex policies, legal risks, and fewer available children make adopting domestically difficult. International adoption offers a solution to parents yearning for a child of their own. Eastern Europe. John Maclean's The Russian Adoption Handbook is a comprehensive guide to adopting a child from overseas. Adoption Handbook leads parents through the maze of: food.

Finally, a childcare book written with the unique needs of adopted toddlers in mind. Written by an adoptive parent, Adopting A Toddler: What Size Shoes Does She Wear? is an indispensable guide to the wonderful world of toddler adoption. Filled with essential parenting information, Adopting a Toddler answers many questions that parents ask, including questions about changing a name, choosing a crib versus a bed, beginning potty training, and what size shoes to buy. Adopting a Toddler is easy to read and covers every aspect of adopting a one to four year-old; with sections on the toddler wardrobe, the nursery, child safety, mealtime, bath time, selecting a pediatrician, medical considerations, international adoption travel, pre and post adoption resources, and more. Adopting a Toddler provides the most up-to-date solutions for preparing for your new arrival. If you're a first time parent, believe me--this is the practical 'how to, how much, when, where and why' guide to preparing for and welcoming your toddler home. Highly recommended --Roberta Rosenberg, AdoptShoppeBooks.com Adopting a Toddler fulfills an unclaimed niche within the realm of older child adoption literature. Ms. parent. Parents will refer to it multiple times.--Susan M. Ward Editor, Older Child Adoption Online Magazine, www olderchildadoption.com Written with a mom's humor, this book contains the most practical advice on adopting a toddler I have ever read.--John Maclean, Author, Russian Adoption Handbook, Chinese Adoption Handbook Denise Harris Hoppenhauer is an adoptive parent and advocate. She is the Program Coordinator for an International Adoption Agency and the 2003 recipient of the Dave Thomas Advocate of the Year Award from the South Carolina Council On Adoptable Children. The Author is donating 10 per cent of her proceeds to Shoes for Orphan S

When faced with the prospect of being a one-child family, and yet having a strong desire for more children, this Midwest family embarks on what would become the adventure of their lives. Through the eyes of a mom, this book is written for all of us who know the joys and frustrations of foreign adoption as well those who may still be in God s holding pattern as they struggle through whatever pains life may deal them. A book of hope and perseverance, We Have a Baby For You, will bring you deep into the details of one family s journey, and encourage you in your own. Travel with this family to the Eastern European country of Romania in the days following the fall of Ceaucesciu, and watch as God opens doors, closes doors, and in some instances breaks down walls, to demonstrate His love for one special little boy and one faithful family.

Whether it's the joy-filled decision to welcome a child into your arms or the difficult decision to give your child another home-adoption is making the choice to love unselfishly and unconditionally. Loved by Choice offers a clear and uplifting look at adoption through true stories told from virtually every perspective. Birth parents, adoptive parents, grandparents, adopted children, families working out an overseas adoption, and those creating interracial families are among those who share their joys and difficulties. The collection is a tender celebration of adoption, led by those who understand it best. "Heartwarming and inspirational. By translating true stories from different perspectives, Horner and Martindale intensely convey to the reader the emotions that these people have felt-emotions ranging from desperation to elation, from abandonment to fulfillment. Loved by Choice is not only educational, it's an emotional read that, for maybe the first time, discusses in-depth the impact that adoption has on families and communities." Bill Owens, Governor of Colorado "Loved by Choice is a perfect example of God's adoption of us as his children and how the choice of love is extended to women in unplanned pregnancies. It is a powerful review of how God uses lives to save lives."Carol Everett, president of The Heidi Group "The reader, at the end of this book, has learned a great deal about the process of adoption, but that pales in comparison with the impact of the stories on the heart itself. And that's the real reason we should all read the book: to understand for the very first time what it really means to be Loved by Choice." Joe Wheeler, Ph. D., editor/compiler of the Heart to Heartseries of anthologies

An informed, comprehensive guide to raising a multicultural family.

How many times do you celebrate the New Year at home? Just once? If your family is Jewish, Chinese, and a few other things besides, you might celebrate twice or even three times a year! As the rate of cross-cultural adoption grows in the United States, new traditions are emerging. These are part of a new multiculturalism which, with its attendant joys and challenges, has become a fact of life in urban, suburban and even rural America. Alperson's sourcebook offers families the first complete guide to the tangled questions that surround this important phenomenon. As the adoptive Jewish mother of Sadie, her Chinese-born daughter, Alperson is able to offer personal as well as professional insight into such topics as combining cultures in the home, confronting prejudice, and developing role models. Focusing on adoptive families - international and transracial adoption in the United States has jumped in recent years - she provides guidelines on how families can prepare for their exciting journey toward becoming a multicultural family.

In addition to drawing on extensive interviews with such families, her book includes a wealth of on-line and "conventional" resources to find books, food products, toys, clothing, discussion groups and heritage camps that help families to enhance their lives as they build a multicultural home.

Evie and Elliot are scrawny, filthy and wide-eyed with fear when they turn up on foster carer Maggie Hartley's doorstep. Aged just two and three years old, this brother and sister have hardly set foot outside their own home. They have been prisoners, locked in a terrifying world of abuse, violence and neglect. Maggie soon realises that Evie and Elliot are lacking the basic life skills we all take for granted. The outside world terrifies them; the sound of the doorbell sends them into a panic that takes hours to abate. Gradually unlocking the truth of their heart-breaking upbringing, Maggie tells their shocking true story. From emotionally scarred and damaged little children, we see how - with warmth and dedication - Maggie transforms their lives. As this moving story unfolds, we share Maggie's joy when these children finally smile again, when they realise they do have a future after all.

"I'm NOT going to school today!" Riley the Brave is a little bear with big feelings. Some days he wakes up feeling cheerful and ready to brave the day. He has energy to get dressed, eat breakfast and have some fun! But some days he wakes up feeling like a grumpy porcupine. His brow is scrunched and he thinks that it is going to be a terrible day. Today, Riley is having one of those days! What can be done to help him? All children struggle to make it to school some days, and this can be even tougher for children who have had difficult life experiences and extra challenges at school. This book creates a safe space for conversations about big thoughts and feelings, and offers positive tips for families to try. It also features an educational afterword for grown-ups which explains how the book helps children, and how to get the most out of it.

The first guide of its kind, covering all stages of the adoption process

Adopting on Your Own addresses the questions and concerns of prospective single parents. Lee Varon, a practicing therapist specializing in adoption counseling and the single mother of two adopted children, helps readers make an evenhanded assessment of whether adoption is right for them, then leads them through the different stages of arranging and financing the adoption. She weighs the advantages of open versus closed and international versus domestic adoption for the single parent, and demystifies potentially daunting steps such as choosing an agency and preparing for the home study.

Adopting on Your Own also offers up-to-date information on the latest developments in interracial adoption policy, the legal rights of gays and lesbians to adopt, and the evolving attitudes of agencies and social workers toward single-parent adoptions. Throughout the book, Varon draws on personal anecdotes and the experiences of her clients to offer honest, insightful advice on every step of the adoption process.

In the only book to make sense of the worlds of adoption and fertility treatment, Bartholet combines moving personal narrative with compelling policy analysis. Family Bonds is newly available at a time when more children than ever are waiting to be adopted and infertility treatment is not only a growing business but also an increasingly expensive and sophisticated technology. "A jewel. . . . Recommended to anyone contemplating or involved with adoption and to any citizen concerned about the welfare of children in our society."
--Carolyn Moore Newberger, The Boston Globe "It would take a book--a very smart and sane book--to deal with these matters and come to the aid of the parties to adoption, and, on the bright side of coincidence, someone is about to publish it [Family Bonds].
--The New Yorker "Anyone seeking to become a parent should both heed and take heart from Elizabeth Bartholet. Family Bonds is at once powerful testimony to the robust ties adoptive families form and an urgent plea for the rights and needs of children everywhere."
--Diane Cole, Newsday "Essential reading for policymakers, lawyers, and child welfare workers."
--Joan Hollinger, editor, Adoption Law and Practice

The voice on the other end of the line was soft, yet forthright: "Sarah, my name is Hannah Morgan. I think I'm your birth mother."

The phone call, wholly unexpected, instantly turned Sarah Saffian's world upside-down, threatening her sense of family, identity, self. Adopted as an infant twenty-three years before, living happily in New York, Sarah had been "found" by her biological parents despite her reluctance to embrace them.

In this searing, lyrical memoir, Sarah chronicles her painful journey from confusion and anger to acceptance and, finally, reunion--but not until three soul-searching years had passed. In spare, luminous prose, Sarah Saffian crafts a powerful story of self-discovery and belonging--a deeply personal memoir told with grace, eloquence, and compassion. At once heartbreaking and profoundly uplifting, Ithaka is sure to touch anyone who has grappled with who they are.

There are more than 450,000 children living in foster care. The Heart Knows Something Different collects over three dozen personal narratives by young writers, ages 15 to 20, and provides an insider's account of growing up in "the system." It takes us into a world largely hidden from public view, and attests to the mix of pain and fear, and sometimes hope, and sometimes even happiness that the foster care experience involves.

From 1870 until after World War I, reformers led an effort to place children from orphanages, asylums, and children's homes with farming families. The farmers received free labor in return for providing room and board. Reformers, meanwhile, believed children learned lessons in family life, citizenry, and work habits that institutions simply could not provide. Drawing on institution records, correspondence from children and placement families, and state reports, Megan Birk scrutinizes how the farm system developed--and how the children involved may have become some of America's last indentured laborers. Between 1850 and 1900, up to one-third of farm homes contained children from outside the family. Birk reveals how the nostalgia attached to misplaced perceptions about healthy, family-based labor masked the realities of abuse, overwork, and loveless upbringings endemic in the system. She also considers how rural people cared for their own children while being bombarded with dependents from elsewhere. Finally, Birk traces how the ills associated with rural placement eventually forced reformers to transition to a system of paid foster care, adoptions, and family preservation.

In recent years, the number of adopted children from abroad has grown dramatically in United States. As open adoption laws and increased competition for adoptable children have made adoption more complicated in this country, international adoptions offer an easier, faster, and less expensive alternative. A comprehensive guide, Adopt International provides step-by-step advice on everything from selecting an adoption agency to traveling abroad to pick up your child to adjusting to a new life at home. The book walks you through the myriad government regulations and complicated forms (both American and foreign) as well as the financial issues involved. Finally, it includes the stories of people who have successfully adopted one or more children from across the world.

An absolutely heartbreaking and gripping historical novel based on a true story, for fans of Suzanne Goldring, Bridgerton and The Girl Behind the Gates. ***FROM THE 4-MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR*** ***RATED 5 STARS BY REAL READERS*** "A wonderfully romantic novel that will capitvate you instantly" -Hart, 5* Amazon reviewer "A fantastic story - I can't wait to read the next volume!" -Michele, 5* Amazon reviewer October 1886. Catherine and Guillaume Duquesne set off to New York with their six-year-old daughter Elisabeth. But the young couple's dreams of freedom and independence soon turn into a nightmare when Catherine dies during the journey and Guillaume is assaulted and left for dead soon after their arrival on American soil. A wealthy family adopts Elisabeth, who grows up spoiled and happy. But when she turns 16, she learns the truth about her origins and decides to return to France to meet her real family. Upon her arrival she realises that her grandfather's house, too, is seething with secrets... What readers think "The author is hugely talented." -Julie, 5* Amazon reviewer "Very attaching characters ... I'm impatient to read the next installment!" -5* Babelio reviewer "I just have to read the rest of the series." -Jean-Pierre, 5* fnac.com reviewer "Reads very well - wait until you read the ending!" -Francoise, 5* Amazon reviewer "An extraordinary author. I strongly recommend!" -Nathalie, 5* Amazon reviewer "I didn't know the author - it's an excellent novel. -Mimi, 5* Amazon reviewer

The true story of runaway child with a secret. A devastating discovery that changes everything.

Melissa is a sweet-natured girl with a disturbing habit of running away and mixing with the wrong crowd. After she’s picked up by the police, and with nowhere else to go, she is locked in a secure unit with young offenders. Social Services beg specialist foster carer Angela to take her in, but can she keep the testing twelve-year-old safe? And will Angela ever learn what, or who, drove Melissa to run and hide, sometimes in the dead of night?

The Girl in the Dark is the sixth book from well-loved foster carer and Sunday Times bestselling author Angela Hart. This is a true story that shares the tale of one of the many children she has fostered over the years. Angela's stories show the difference that quiet care, a watchful eye and sympathetic ear can make to children who have had more difficult upbringings than most.

Get your family talking about adoption with the ultimate collection of films to help the whole family to explore their feelings in a fun and safe way. With a film for each week of the year, Addison Cooper has compiled the best movies, new and old, for family-friendly viewing. Among those featured are Finding Dory, Frozen, Paddington, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda, Star Wars, Divergent, The Blind Side and I am Sam. Carefully selected, the movies included will help families to comfortably talk about important adoption-related topics. They are accompanied by descriptions of the themes and ideas to get the conversations started. Helping all members of the family to explore both the pain and joy of adoption, they cover a range of issues which can arise such as culture, identity, control, and reunification. With something for everyone - from kids, to teens, to grown-ups - this is a must-have for all adoptive families.

An honest insight into the rollercoaster reality of therapeutically parenting teenagers. Raising any teenager is tough, but raising teens who have experienced trauma in their early years is a whole different - and more difficult - ball game. Adoptive parent Sally Donovan is here to answer every question you've ever wanted to ask about therapeutically parenting teenagers, and a whole lot more besides. Therapeutic parenting is equal parts love, commitment, determination, and realism, and Sally writes about it all with equal parts blazing wit, tear-jerking honesty, and wisdom. Read this book to hear a voice speaking from experience - and above all, the heart - about everything to expect from therapeutically parenting your teens.