This is a list of 135 books that I own. It is not comprehensive of all published adoption books.

If you would like to add a book here, please leave a comment.

 

BOOKS ON ADOPTION, REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

 Surrogacy, Sperm Donation, Hospital Baby-Swap

11 Books

Bioethics: Basic writings on the key ethical questions that surround the major, modern biological possibilities and problems, Thomas A. Shannon, editor, 1976.

Sacred Bond: The Legacy of Baby M, Phyllis Chesler, 1988.

A Mother’s Story: The Truth About the Baby M Case, Mary Beth Whitehead with Lorretta Schwartz-Nobel, 1989.  (Mary Beth Whitehead’s story was made into a two-part mini-series for TV)

Lethal Secrets: The Shocking Consequences and Unsolved Problems of Artificial Insemination: Parents, Children, Donors, and Experts Speak Out, Annette Baran and Reuben Pannor, 1989.

The Baby-Swap Conspiracy: The Shocking Truth Behind the Florida Case of Two Babies Switched at Birth, Loretta Schwartz-Nobel, 1993.

Private Choices, Public Consequences: Reproductive Technology and the New Ethics of Conception, Pregnancy and Family, Lynda Beck Fenwick, 1998.

Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry, The President’s Council on Bioethics, Washington DC, July 2002.

Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, A report of The President’s Council on Bioethics, Washington DC, 2003.

Monitoring Stem Cell Research, A report of The President’s Council on Bioethics, 2004.

Reproduction and Responsibility: The Regulation of New Biotechnologies, A Report of The President’s Council on Bioethics, 2004.

Altering the Blueprint: The Ethics of Genetics, A University-Level Course Taught by Alexander McCall Smith, Barnes and Noble Audio, 2004.

 

 

Adoption Expose, Informational Overview, Law

10 Books

The Adoption Triangle: Sealed or Opened Records: How They Affect Adoptees, Birth Parents, and Adoptive Parents, Arthur D Sorosky, MD, Annette Baran, MSW, Reuben Pannor, MSW, 1978.

Shedding Light on … The Dark Side of Adoption, Marsha Riben, 1988.

Adoption Law: Practice and Procedure in the 21^st Century, Golda Zimmerman, Esq., Editor-In-Chief, New York Bar Association, 2004.

The Adoption Mystique: A Hard-Hitting Expose of the Negative Powerful Social Stigma that Permeates Child Adoption in the United States, Joanna Wolf Small, MSW, 2007.

The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption, Barbara Bisantz Raymond, 2007 (Barbara is a former Buffalonian – from Buffalo, New York)

The Stork Market: America’s Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry, Mirah Riben, 2007.  Challenges the myths and exposes corruption: black and gray market adoption; scams, coercion, exploitation, and international child trafficking based on supply, demand and profiteering.

Babies Without Borders: Adoption and Migration Across the Americas, Karen Dubinsky, 2010.

The Traffic in Babies: Cross-Border Adoption and Baby-Selling between the United States and Canada 1930-1972, Karen A. Balcom, 2011.

Information Package: The Development of “Birth Terms” to refer to Natural Parents of Adoptees (1955 to 1979), compiled by Origins Canada, third edition, October 2012.

Jean Paton and the Struggle to Reform American Adoption, E. Wayne Carp, 2014.          (About the Mother of the Adoption Reform Movement in America)

 

 

History of The Sealed and Amended Birth Record of Adoptees

3 Books

Family Matters: Secrecy and Disclosure in the History of Adoption, E. Wayne Carp, 1998.

The Idea of Adoption: An Inquiry into the History of Adult Adoptee Access to Birth Records, by Elizabeth J. Samuels, Rutgers Law Review, Vol 53, Winter 2001, Number 2.

Growing in the Dark: Adoption Secrecy and And Its Consequences, Janine M. Baer, 2004.

 

 

Search and Reunion: Adoptees and Natural Parents

15 Books

A Time to Search: The Moving and Dramatic Stories of Adoptees in Search of Their Natural Parents, Henry Ehrlich, 1977.  Adoptees from Adoptees Liberty Movement Association – ALMA –tell their stories.

Lost and Found: The Adoption Experience: The Landmark Book of the New Adoption Movement – For Everyone Who Has Ever Searched For Roots, Betty Jean Lifton, 1979.

The Adoption Searchbook: Techniques for Tracing People, Mary Jo Rillera, 1981.

Search Aftermath and Adjustments, Patricia Sanders and Nancy Sitterly, Independent Search Consultants, Orphan Voyage, 1981.

Adoption Encounter: Hurt, Transition, Healing, Mary Jo Rillera, Triadoption Publications, 1986, 1987.

Faint Trails: A Guide to Adult Adoptee-Birth Parent Reunification Searches, Hal Aigner, 1987.

BirthBond: Reunions Between Birthparents and Adoptees: What Happens After, Judith S. Gediam and Linda P. Brown, 1989.

The Reunion Book, Vol 1, Mary Jo Rillera, 1991.

Lifeline: The Action Guide to Adoption Search, Virgil L. Klunder, 1991.

Adoption Reunions: A Book for Adoptees, Birth Parents and Adoptive Families, Michelle McColm, 1993.

Making Contact: A Brief Guide to Making Contact Once the Search is Completed, Susan Miller-Havens, Dirck W. Brown, Patricia Sanders, American Adoption Congress, 1993.

The Adoption Machine, privately published for the adoption reform community, Jo Anne Swanson, 1993, 2000. (Written by a natural mother)

Chapters:

“Dear Marla”

The Production Line

The Passive Approach

Knowledge is a Fearsome Thing

Machine Malfunctions and Miseries

Agency Art Form: Lying

The Real Story Unfolds

Physical Abuse Begins

Healing at Last

Legacy of Secret Adoption

Damage to the Adopted Person

Damage to Birthmothers

Adoptive Parents Speak Out For Reform

Observations on the Need for Roots

The Professionals Speak Out For Reform

Today’s Adoption Machine in Motion

NCFA (National Council For Adoption): Should It Steer Adoption  Policy?

Helpful Resources

 

Search Options: Choices For Triad Members Contemplating or Conducting a Search, Patricia Sanders, Susan Miller-havens, American Adoption Congress, 1994.

Searching For a Past: The Adopted Adult’s Unique Process of Finding Identity, Jayne Schooler, 1995. Author of The Whole Life Adoption Book.

The Adoption Reunion Survival Guide: Preparing Yourself for the Search, Reunion, and Beyond, Julie Jarrell Bailey and Lynn N. Giddens, MA, 2001.

 

Adoptee Memoirs

21 Books

The Adopted Break Silence, by Jean Paton, 1954.    Jean Paton founded Orphan Voyage, a support group for adoptees, in 1953, the first ever and thus began the Adoptees Movement in American and the world. This book details forty life stories of adoptees. This is the very first anthology of adoptees’ true stories.

Orphan Voyage, by Ruthena Hill Kittson (Jean Paton), 1968.   This is a book about adoption, as seen through the eyes of a large group of adopted people, living in Michigan, who were visited by the author. What they have to say is authentic and very revealing. They were speaking to a fellow adoptee, and were thus able to speak without apology or the need to explain or justify what they said. Jean Paton reveals a bit of her life story as an adoptee.

The Search For Anna Fisher: The Dramatic story of an Adoptee Who Was Determined to Find Her Natural Parents and After 20 Heartbreaking Years, Did, Florence Fisher, 1973.   Founder of ALMA: Adoptees’ Liberty Movement Association, the 2^nd organization of adopted persons. This is the very first full-length memoir ever written by an adopted person.

Twice Born: Memoirs of An Adopted Daughter, Betty Jean Lifton, 1975.  This is the 2^nd memoir ever to be written by an adopted person.

An Adopted Woman: Her Search, Her Discovery, A True Story, Katrina Maxtone-Graham, 1983.

Mother, Can You Hear Me?: The Extraordinary true story of an adopted daughter’s reunion with her birth mother after a separation of fifty years, by Elizabeth Cooper Allen, 1983.

Ain’t Nothing as Sweet as My Baby: The Story of Hank William’s Lost Daughter: The legacy of a legend, born days after he died, she fought fraud, conspiracy, greed, lies, and the legal system to prove her incredible heritage…and she won it all!, Jett Williams with Pamela Thomas, 1992.

Synchronicity and Reunion: The Genetic Connection of Adoptees and Birthparents: A Fascinating exploration of surprising coincidences in the Union/Loss/Reunion stories of families separated by adoption, Lavonne Harper Stiffler, 1992.

Second Choice: Growing Up Adopted, Robert Andersen, MD, 1993.

Outer Search, Inner Journey: An Orphan and Adoptee’s Quest, Peter F. Dodds, 1997.      The first book on International Adoption from the foreign adoptee’s point of view.

I Was that Baby, Joseph Albert Tringali, 2005.  (Formerly from Buffalo, New York)

The Search for Mother Missing: A Peek Inside International Adoption: A Contemporary memoir inspired by the Adoptee gathering, Seoul, South Korea, Janine Vance, 2007.

Swimming Up the Sun: A Memoir of Adoption, Nicole J. Burton, 2008.

Becoming Patrick: A Memoir, Patrick McMahon, 2011.   A gay adoptee’s story.

360 Square: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity, Carol Lillieqvist Welsh, 2012.

Off Balance, Dominique Moceanu, 2012.   “When you have traveled the world, won Olympic gold, and gone through a very public court battle against your parents all by the age of seventeen, surprises don’t come easy. Discovering my sister Jennifer, though – that was a surprise.” – about the legless daughter Dominique’s parents gave up for adoption.

Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA, Richard Hill, 2012.

A Legitimate Life: A Forbidden Journey of Self-Discovery, Melinda A. Warshaw, 2012.

The Names of My Mothers, Dianne Sanders Riordan, 2013.   (A Buffalo Social Worker and an Adopted Person)

Adoptionland: From Orphans to Activists, Edited by Janine Myung Ja, Michael Allen Potter and Allen L. Vance, 2014.    Intercountry perspectives from families separated by adoption: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Norway, Romania, Scotland, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States

Forbidden Family: An Adopted Woman’s Struggle for Identity, 3^rd Edition, Doris Michol Sippel, 2016. Forward by Dr. Rene Hoksbergen (retired director of The Adoption Center, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands).

 

 

 

Natural Mothers and Fathers

18 Books

The House of Tomorrow: An Unforgettable True Story: The Girl Next Door – twenty, pregnant, unmarried, scared, alone, Jean Thompson, 1967.

The Unmarried Father: New Approaches for Helping Unmarried Young Parents, Reuben Pannor, Fred Massarik, and Byron Evans, 1971.

Death by Adoption: To Childless Mothers Everywhere Who Put Society’s Decision Into Action By Signing Adoption Consent, Joss Shawyer, (New Zealand), 1979.

Birthmark: They Call Me ‘Biological Mother.’  (I Hate Those Words. They make me sound like a baby machine, a conduit, without emotions. They tell me to forget and go out and make a new life. I had a baby and I gave her away. BUT I AM A MOTHER.), Lorraine Dusky, 1979.

I Would Have Searched Forever, Sandra Kay Musser, 1979.

What Kind of Love is This?: A Story of Adoption Reconciliation, Sandra Kay Musser, 1982.

To Prison with Love: The True Story of an Indecent Indictment and America’s Adoption Travesty, Sandy Musser, 1995.

Shedding Light on The Dark Side of Adoption, by Marsha Riben, 1988.

The Other Mother: A Woman’s Love for the Child She gave Up For Adoption, Carol Schaefer, 1991.  This book became a made-for TV movie in 1995 and is currently shown on re-runs on Lifetime Cable.

Letter to Louise: A Loving Memoir to the Daughter I Gave Up for Adoption More than Twenty-Five years Ago, Pauline Collins, 1992.

Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race before Roe V. Wade, Rickie Solinger, 1992.

Out of the Shadows: Birthfathers’ Stories: Some Fathers Never Hear their Children Call Them “Daddy”, Mary Martin Mason, 1995.

Confessions of a Lost Mother, Elisa M Barton, 1996.

Soul Connection: Memoir of a Birthmother’s Healing Journey, Ann H. Hughes, 1999.

Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief, Evelyn Burns Robinson, 2000.  (Australian natural mother)

Musings of a Ghost Mother: Losing an Infant to Closed Adoption, Lynne Reyman, PhD, 2001.

Adoption and Recovery: Solving the Mystery of Reunion, Evelyn Burns Robinson, 2004. (Australian natural mother)

Without a Map: A Memoir: a devastating story of what happens when a person is exiled from her own life, a birthmother’s story, Meredith Hall, 2007.

 

Adoptive Father Memoir

            1 Book

The Girl Behind the Door: A Father’s Journey Into the Mystery of Attachment, John Brooks, 2014.    This book should be a wake-up call to adoptive parents and professionals about the issues adoptees and their parents face…about an adoptee’s suicide.

 

Concerned United Birthparents – CUB

            7 Books

Understanding the Birthparent, Lee H. Campbell, M Ed, 1977.

The Social Worker’s Role in Adoption, Carole J. Anderson, MSW, JD, Des Moines, Iowa, 1980, 1987.

Choices, Chances, Changes: A Guide to Making an Informed Choice About Your Untimely Pregnancy, Carole Anderson, Lee Campbell, Mary Anne Manning Cohen, Concerned United Birthparents, 1981.

Why Wont’ My Birthmother Meet Me?, Carole J. Anderson, MSW, JD, Des Moines, Iowa, 1982.

The Post Adoption Experience of Surrendering Parents, Eva Y. Deykin, Dr. PH, Lee Campbell, M Ed, Patricia Pattie, BSN, 1984.

Child Abuse and Adoption, Carole J. Anderson, MSW, JD, Des Moines, Iowa, 1991.

A Time for Sweeping Change: Re-examining Adoption, Carole Anderson, MSW, JD, Annette Baran, MSW, LCSW, Reuben Pannor, MSW, LCSW, Jean Paton, MA, MSW, 1991.

 

 

Psychology and Social Work

23 Books

Child Care and the Growth of Love, John Bowlby, 1953.

In Search of Origins: The Experience of Adopted People, by John Triseliotis, 1973.           (written by a psychiatric social worker)

Before the Best Interests of the Child, Joseph Goldstein, Anna Freud, Albert J. Solnit, 1979.  (Authors of Beyond the Best Interests of the Child)

Helping Children Cope With Separation and Loss: Divorce, Death, Absence, Adoption, Foster Care, Claudia L. Jewett, 1982.  (Author of Adopting the Older Child)

Shared Fate: A Theory and Method of Adoptive Relationships, H. David Kirk, 1984.

Adoptive Kinship: A Modern Institution in Need of Reform, H. David Kirk, 1985.

Exploring Adoptive Family Life: The Collected Adoption Papers of H. David Kirk, 1988.

Clinical Practice in Adoption, Robin C. Winkler, Dirck W. Brown, Margaret van Keppel, Amy Blanchard, 1988.

The Psychology of Adoption, Editors David M Brodzinsky and Marshall D Schechter, 1990.  (Dr. David M Brozinsky is formerly from Buffalo, New York)

Adoption and the Family System, Miriam Reitz and Kenneth W Watson, 1992.

The Adoption Life Cycle: The Children and Their Families through the Years, Elinor B. Rosenberg, 1992.

Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search For Self, David M Brodzinsky, PhD, Marshall D Schechter, MD, and Robin Mrantz Henig, 1992.

The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child, Nancy Newton Verrier, 1993.      (written by an adoptive mother who is a therapist)

Joined at the Heart: A True Story of Love and Courage, Nancy Vizedom, 1994.

Adoptee Trauma, Heather Carlini, 1997.   (Author of Birthmother Trauma)

 

The Family of Adoption, Joyce Maguire Pavao, 1998.    Pavao explores development of family relationships, losses, needs, problems, joys of adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth parents throughout the life cycle. She also addresses: keeping connections.

Adoptees Coming of Age, Ronald Nydam, 1999.

Clinical and Practice Issues in Adoption: Bridging the Gap Between Adoptees Placed as Infants and as Older Children, Victor Groza and Karen F. Rosenberg, 2001.

The Adopted Child Grows Up: Coming Home to Self, Nancy Newton Verrier, 2003.  (written by an adoptive mother who is a therapist)

Twenty Life Transforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make, Sherrie Eldridge, 2003.

Adoption Healing: A Path to Recovery, Joe Soll, 2005.

Handbook of Adoption: Implications for Researchers, Practitioners, and Families, Rafael A. Javier, Amanda L. Baden, Frank A. Biafora, and Alina Camacho-Ginerich, 2007.

Inside:

Taking Adoption Issues to the Academic and Professional Communities

Toward a Sociology of Adoption: Historical Deconstruction

Adoption Data and Statistical Trends

A Legal History of Adoption and Ongoing Legal Challenges

Developmental Challenges for Adoptees Across the Life Cycle

Adoptive Identity: How Contexts Within and Beyond the Family Shape Developmental Pathways

The Cultural-Racial Identity Model: A Theoretical Framework for Studying Transracial Adoptees

Putting Culture Into Context: The Impact of Attitudes Toward the Adoption of Chinese Adoptees

Moving Beyond the Controversy of the Transracial Adoption of Black and Biracial Children

International Adoption of Latin American Children: Psychological Adjustment, Cultural, and Legal Issues

From the Ashes of War: Lessons From 50 Years of Korean International Adoption

Open Adoptions: Longitudinal Outcomes for the Adoption Triad

Single-Parent Adoptions and Clinical Implications

The Special Needs of Special-Needs Adoptees and Their Families

Double-Stigma: The Impact of Adoption Issues on Lesbian and Gay Adoptive Parents

The Importance of Kinship Relationships for Children in Foster Care

School Issues and Adoption: Academic Consideration and Adaptation

Variations in Clinical Issues for Children Adopted as Infants and Those Adopted as Older Children

Counseling Adoption Triad Members: Making a Case for Adoption Raining for Counselors and Clinical Psychologists

Psychologists’ Self-Reported Adoption Knowledge and the Need For More Adoption Education

Research Contributions: Strengthening Services for Members of the Adoption Triad

Birth Mothers and Subsequent Children: The Role of Personality Traits and Attachment History

Identity, Psychological Adjustment, Culture, and Race: Issues for Transracial Adoptees and the Cultural-Racial Identity Model

Adoptees’ and Birth Parents’ Therapeutic Experiences Related to Adoption

Why Has the Mental Health Community Been Silent on Adoption Issues?

The Inner Life of the Adopted Child: Adoption, Trauma, Loss, Fantasy, Search, and Reunion

Birth Parents and Adoption: Using Research to Inform Practice

Relinquishment as a Critical Variable in the Treatment of Adoptees

Psychoanalytic Understanding and Treatment of the Adoptee

Psychic Homelessness Related to Reactive Attachment Disorder: Dutch Adult Foreign Adoptees Struggling With their Identity

“I Don’t Know You”: Transference and Countertransference Paradigms With Adoptees

Poetic Reflections and Other Creative Processes From Adoptees

Reflections

The Future of Adoption: A Call to Action

Resource Guide

About the Editors

About the Contributors

 

The Adoption Constellation: New Ways of Thinking About and Practicing Adoption, Michael Phillip Grand, PhD, 2010.

 

 

Spiritual Existentialism and Philosophy

9 Books

Synchronicity and Reunion: The Genetic Connection of Adoptees and Birthparents: A Fascinating Exploration of Surprising Coincidences in the Union/Loss/Reunion Stories of Families Separated by Adoption, LaVonne Harper Stiffler, 1992.

Adoption: Charms and Rituals for Healing, Randolph W. Severson, PhD, 1991.

Sibling Reunions: A Letter to those Who Have Been Contacted, Randolph W. Severson, PhD, 1992.

Dear Birthfather, Randolph W. Severson, No Date, Circa 1992.

Journey of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness, Betty Jean Lifton, 1994.

Adoption: Philosophy and Experience, Randolph W. Severson, PhD, 1994.

Adoption and Spirituality, Randolph W. Severson, PhD, 1994.

Love and Discipline: A Philosophical and Spiritual Guide to Discipline in Adoptive Families, Randolph W. Severson, PhD, 1995.

The Soul of Family Preservation, Randolph W. Severson, PhD, 1996.

 

From The Netherlands

            5 Books

Adoption in Worldwide Perspective: A Review of Programs, Policies and Legislation in 14 Countries, Edited by R.A.C. Hoksbergen and Dr. S.D. Gokhale, Swets North America Inc/ Berwyn, Swets and Zeitlinger B. V./Lisse, 1986.

Adopted Children at Home and at School, Prof. Dr. R.A.C. Hoksbergen, F. Juffer (M.A.), B.C. Waardenburg (M.A.), The Adoption Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1987.

Kind van Ander Ouders (Child of Other Parents), Edited by Rene Hoksbergen and Hans Walenkamp, Bohn Stafleu Van Loghum, Houten/Antwerpen, 1991.            Includes autobiographical article, “The Secret is Out,” by Joan Wheeler (reclaimed name of birth in 2016 – Doris Sippel).

Adoptees on Their Way to Adulthood: The Integration of 68 Thai adoptees into Dutch Society, Hetty Geerars, Rene Hoksbergen, Janneke Rooda, The Adoption Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1996.

Adopting a Child: A Guidebook for Adoptive Parents and their Advisors, R.A.C. Hoksbergen, The Adoption Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1994.

 

Pro-Adoption

          12 Books

The Family Nobody Wanted, Helen Doss, 1954.

Finding Families: An Ecological Approach to Family Assessment in Adoption, Ann Hartmen, 1979.

The Art of Adoption: An Adoption Agency Director’s Compassionate Exploration of What Adoption Means to All Those Involved – Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and the Adoptee, Linda Cannon Burgess, 1976, 1981.

Dear BirthMother: The Book About Open Adoption, Kathleen Silber and Phylis Speedlin, 1983.

Barriers to Adoption: Hearings Before the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, United State Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session on Examination of the Barriers to Special Needs Adoption, Focusing on the Policies of Public and Private Child Welfare Departments, 1985.

Adoption: A Handful of Hope, Suzanne Arms, 1990.

Launching a Baby’s Adoption: Practical Strategies for Parents and Professionals, Patricia Irwin Johnson, 1997.

Adoption Nation: How The Adoption Revolution is Transforming America, Adam Pertman, 2000.

Loved by Choice, True Stories That Celebrate Adoption, Susan Horner and Kelly Fordyce Martindale, 2002.

Fast Track Adoption: The Faster, Safer Way to Privately Adopt a Baby: How to Quickly Adopt a Child – and at less Expense, Susan Burns, Psy.D., 2003.                                    Written by an adoptive mother who fast-tracked a baby from the natural mother who later killed herself when she learned how she was tricked out of her baby by this adoption scam.

The Cruelest Con: The Guide for a S.a.F.E Adoption Journey, Kelly Kiser-Mostrom, 2005 This book is for adoptive parents…”Facilitators are unregulated, and laws vary from state to state, leaving the adoption world wide open for many kinds of criminal activities and baby buying.”

Adoption by Lesbians and Gay Men: A New Dimension in Family Diversity, edited by David M. Brodzinsky and Adam Pertman, 2012.