Before you begin your search for your birth relatives…
Snag my in-depth reference guide to best equip you for the journey ahead.
Adoptee Resources
Adoption Reference Guides:
Adoption Terms & Language Quick Reference Guide by Julie McGue
National Foster Care & Adoption Directory Definitions by Child Welfare Information Gateway
Adoption Related Reference Books:
Brodzinsky, David M., Schechter, Marshall D., Marantz Henig, Robin, Being Adopted: the Lifelong Search for Self. New York: Anchor Books,1993.
Eldridge, Sherrie, 20 Things Adoptive Parents Need to Succeed: Discover the Secrets to Understanding the Unique Needs of Your Adopted Child-and Becoming the Best Parent You Can Be, New York: Delta Trade Paperbacks, 1999.
_____, Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew, New York: Delta Trade Paperbacks,
Fessler, Ann, The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, New York: The Penguin Press, 2006.
Lifton, Betty Jean, Lost & Found: The Adoption Experience. The University of Michigan Press, 2009.
______, Twice Born: Memoirs of An Adopted Daughter. New York: McGraw Hill, 1975.
Newton Verrier, Nancy, The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child. Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, Inc., 1993.
Schaefer, Carol, Searching…, For Healing After Reunion, New York: 2014.
Strauss, Jean A.S., Birthright: The Guide to search and reunion for adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive parents. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.
Self-Help/Other Reference Books:
Brown, Brene, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, New York: Avery Books, 2012.
_____, Rising Strong, New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015.
Adoption Blogs
- Adoptee Restoration Blog
- DearAdopted Blog
- Experiencecourage.com
- The Adopted Ones Blog
- The Declassified Adoptee Blog
Adoption Related News & Articles:
- Michigan deal bars LGBT discrimination in state adoptions
- Public Invited to give input on State Foster Care System at Regional Forums
- Adoptees seek Connecticut law change, want birth records
- Increasing Permanency: Seven Principles for Building Emotionally Stable Foster & Adoptive Families
- 6 Adoption Questions You Were Too Afraid To Ask
- A Millennial’s Guide To Foster Care & Adoption
- Indiana Residents Face Long Wait for Adoption Records
- Obtaining Birth and/or Adoption Records
- As I See It: All adoptees should have access to their birth certificates
- Nurse adopts baby she cared for in ICU
- Writer Regina Louise talks Lifetime biopic ‘I Am Somebody’s Child,’ being born into foster care
- Why So Many Women Choose Abortion Over Adoption
- Advantages of Having An Adoption Consultant
- Illinois Safe Haven Law in place to save abandoned newborns
- Griffis: Adoption laws vary state-by-state
- Man Meets His Family for the First Time After Being Given up for Adoption 40 Years Ago
- I’m Adopted And Pro-Choice. Stop Using My Story For The Anti-Abortion Agenda.
- Has adoption touched your life? – Has adoption touched your life?
- Explainer: What’s going on with faith-based adoption agencies? And what will happen next?
- Dear Therapist: The Child My Daughter Put Up for Adoption Is Now Rejecting Her
- NY weighs releasing original birth certificates to adoptees
- Senators back adoption standards bill
- WATCH: The endless journey for adoptees – accessing birth records
- Benevolant Society set to host free Adoption Connections meeting on South Coast
- 8 Adoptees Who Found Their Birth Parents Through DNA Kits
- New, stricter rules proposed for Illinois foster homes
- Access to post-placement and post-adoption services to expand under Peters new law
- When ‘You’re Adopted’ Is Used as an Insult
- Supreme Court and Religious Liberty: Catholic Foster-Care Case Looms
- What Adoption Was Like for Me – Women Share Their Stories
- Guest View: A hidden class of American
- This Family Approached Intercountry Adoption Differently, and It Worked
- Adoptive moms battle skepticism, hostility over maternity leave
- Scammers On Instagram Target Couples Hoping To Adopt | NPR Illinois
- Judge allows Michigan adoption agencies to bar LGBT homes | WCYB
- Here’s How to Pay for Adoption Costs
- Task force hoping to change Wisconsin adoption laws
- New rule would allow faith-based adoption organizations to deny service to LGBTQ couples
- Adoptions of 45 Madison County children to be finalized at Nov. 23 Adoption Day event
- 10 Things You Didn’t Know about Lisa Joyner
- Rule change on adoption will punish thousands of kids in foster care
- The Trauma of Transracial Adoption
- New York joins states allowing adult adoptees full access to birth certificates
- Iowa Adoptees Denied Access to Their Own Birth Certificates by Privacy Laws
- Indiana celebrates National Adoption Day
- Adoption Trends in America: Uncovering Its Prevalence and Cost – 2019 Edition
- South Dakota governor signs religious adoption protections
- Cities continue crusade against Catholic adoptions
- Adoptions across Texas surge, breaking records
- Lawyers, tribes raise concerns about adoption bills
- Linda Clausen: Maryland must change its adoption laws to allow access to birth certificates
- Gov. Lee expected to sign controversial bill allowing some adoption agencies to deny LGBT families
- Bill threatens to remove conscience protections for adoption agencies
- Virtual adoption ceremony: Pandemic doesn’t stop Flemington couple from adopting son
- What Prospective Parents Should Know About International Adoption
- Two Siblings Discover Each Other Through DNA Testing
- Reuniting with Birth Family: How to Search for your Biological Relatives
- Sia reveals she adopted teen boys who were aging out of foster care
- Pregnant and Alone: How to Move Forward When Your Baby’s Father Won’t Support You
- ‘Heartbreaking’: These families were set to adopt, but coronavirus put their plans on hold
- ‘Tell Me Who My Mother Is’: A Korean Adoptee Seeks Her Roots
- Plymouth woman finds biological mother, two sisters after genetics test
- Lori Falce: Adoption should be happily ever after
- Indicted adoption attorney pleads guilty in Utah, still faces indictment in Arkansas
- Angelina Jolie on Honoring and Learning from Her Adopted Children’s Roots
- ‘Side By Side’ Documentary Eloquently Voices Memories Of Korean Adoptees
- The Stranded Babies of the Coronavirus Disaster
- Do Adoptive Parents Have the Right to Write about Their Children? Kay Trimberger Responds
- Adoption in a pandemic: Royal Palm family adopts son via Zoom
- Families Persist With U.S. Adoptions. Coronavirus Makes It A Challenge.
- Giving Baby Up for Adoption at Birth
- 4 tools to speed up your search for biological family
- Five families adopt nine children during Back to School Adoption Day
- Religious groups square off ahead of major Supreme Court adoption case
- Hugh Jackman’s wife Deborra-Lee Furness talks candidly about adoption and says she was targeted
- Supreme Court will hear case to decide if adoption agencies can discriminate in November
- Gov. Holcomb Announces Indiana Top State in the Nation for Adoption
- $2.4M adoption and legal guardianship incentive award given to Arizona
- Amy Coney Barrett Raised Her Haitian Adoptions. Other Families and Children Were Listening
- Digging deep: adoptees share the emotional journeys of discovering their roots
- An adoption agency was told to stop turning away LGBTQ couples. The courts say they can.
- My parents hid the fact I was adopted, but I instinctively knew
- Despite Mixed Results, South Asian Adoptees Turn To DNA Tests To Find Relatives
- Gov. Kemp announces adoption and foster care reform legislation
- 1 Celebrities Who Chose To Adopt
- As a teen, I chose adoption. Why are stories like mine missing from the abortion debate? | America Magazine
- ‘You love this country, and it’s taken from you’: Adoption doesn’t guarantee US citizenship
- How the Federal Adoption Tax Credit Works | Personal Finance | roanoke.com
- Here’s What Biden Can Do for Foster and Adoptive Youth
- Gov. Kemp announces adoption and foster care reform legislation
- How to talk to your kids about adoption
- The Ethics of Adoption in America
- Adoption Used to Be Hush-Hush. This Book Amplifies the Human Toll.
- LETTER: Adult adoptees treated inhumanely
- Bishops applaud HHS rule change that aids adoption, foster care providers
- Dutch freeze international adoptions after abuses uncovered
- 14 Things Adoptive Families Wish People Knew About Adoption
- Illinois Celebrates Forever Families
- National Adoption Month 122,000 Youth in Need of Families
- Arizona Legislature: Historic income-tax cut passes; House adjourns without taking up education bills
- Birth mothers say a bill granting adoptees access to their original birth records is a key step toward healing
- GR family describes ‘scary’ process to adopt their biological twins born via gestational carrier
- When Your Birth Is a State Secret
- After SCOTUS hearing, a new look at baby ‘safe haven’ laws
