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

Statistics

• Adoption Statistics by State (2005-2014) 
• Trends in Foster Care & Adoption
• A Chartbook Based on the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents

Adoption Related News & Articles:

• Adoption recruiters find families still interested in adopting, fostering despite pandemic | WDTN.com
• The Baby Brokers: Inside America’s Murky Private-Adoption Industry
• 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
• How the Trump Era Encouraged Publicly Funded Discrimination in Adoption and Foster Care