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Reviews (8)

Focus on love - no matter what form your family takes.
With their fingers on the pulse of American life, the authors of "Parents At Last" have captured the essence of the most importantchallenge facing us today - creating and nurturing families.While themedia focuses on the breakdown of the family, this book focuses instead oncreating family in its many forms - adoptive families, blended families,families who experience the wonders of cutting edge technologicalfertility.Through it all the underlying truths of family shine through:humor, communication, and most of all, love.

As an adoptive parent I found the stories to ring true.
As an adoptive parent I found the stories in Parents at Last to ring true.It was so encouraging to see many different kinds of families gathered together in one book.There are many ways to go about creating a family. The only constant is love and commitment.Several of the stories reflectthe parents feeling that their child was meant to be theirs.We alsoexperienced that faith as we searched for our daughter 5 years ago.Thisis a beautiful book that I plan to share with our adoption support group.

A compassionate book filled with hope.
This book offers hope & compassion to many people with the goal of creating a family.As the Mother of a stillborn son 18 months ago and with added discouragement of not yet conceiving again at age 35+, this bookoffers hope that there are alternatives to building my family should I needto go that direction.It's nice to know that I'm "not alone" inthis quest.It was also wonderful to hear about the book on the"Today" show; that's what prompted me to purchase it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Child Care/Parenting    3. Family & Relationships    4. Parenthood    5. Parenting    6. Psychological aspects    7. Family & Relationships / Adoption   

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Adoption And Adoption Services    3. Christianity    4. Christianity - Christian Life - Family Relationships    5. Christianity - Theology - Ethics    6. Ethics    7. Family & Relationships    8. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    9. Family/Marriage    10. Moral Theology    11. Moral and ethical aspects    12. Religion - Marriage & Family    13. Religious aspects    14. Social Psychology    15. United States   

Reviews (8)

such a sweet story
The author dealt with the issues of adoption with a lot of tact and was honest about some of the negative things that her family went through, from bureaucratic delays to their daughter's health problems.I was fully resigned to the fact that it would be a totally sappy story, but surprisingly it was just sweet but not overly emotional, so that's a plus for me. This book is informative not just for those in the adoptioin process (which I am not) but anyone interested in child welfare in general, or just a nice story about becoming a mother.All of the profits go towards the non-profit organization that the author founded so in addition to enjoying this book I am happy to be helping her cause.

Worth the read - Chinese adoption from a first-hand perspective
I don't often review books, but as my husband and I find we are going to be starting our very own "paper chase" to bring our daughter home to us from China, I have been relying heavily on reviews - so here goes mine.
Very realistic view of international adoption.
This is a great book recounting the journey of one couple in their quest to adopt from China.They are respectful of the culture, country and the people and feel very real emotions throughout the process.I enjoyed reading about their fears, concerns and dreams concerning their coming daughter, and never once got the feeling that they decided to adopt simply because it was 'expected' of them to have children.Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family/Marriage    5. Parental Memoirs    6. Parenting - General    7. Parenting - Motherhood    8. Reference    9. Adopted children    10. Advice on parenting    11. Family & Relationships / Motherhood    12. Family & Relationships-Adoption   

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Adoptive parents    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Family/Marriage    6. Intercountry adoption    7. United States    8. Family & Relationships / Adoption   

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• Unabridged

Reviews (20)

Finally, Someone Who Knows and Can Help!
Dr. Federici is the only author and professional we have found who truely understands what parents having very disturbed children go through. His book is easy to read, right to the point, and provides hope and a great deal of ideas (hard solutions) to problems. He mixes no words, but gives hope and understanding in a compassionate way. We have contacted him, heard him lecture, and know that he is "on target" , where all these other "experts" miss the entire boat, especially these so-called "attachment therapists. His Second Edition is now out that we will get soon.

Finally, Someone Who Understands And Is Knowledgeable
This was the most common sense and practical book a person could buy who has felt totally overwhelmed by two very troubled children adopted form eastern Europe. No "sugar-coating" here, as Dr. Federici get right down to the cold, hard facts that helped put our family back together. All the other books played around with "RAD", "ADHD", and other catchy terms but never got to the right way to treat damaged children. We hope there are more books coming from this author.

Indispensible
This book is an indispensable source for those who have adopted children from orphanages.I wish I'd had it when I got home from Russia 7 years ago.My child can't be found in the Dr. Spock books, but he'sall over the pages of this one.Thank you for confirming some things we've already discovered and given us a guide for where to go next. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adjustment disorders in childr    2. Adjustment disorders in children    3. Adoption    4. Attachment behavior in childre    5. Children with Special Needs    6. Family & Relationships / Learning Disabilities    7. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    8. Intercountry adoption    9. Parenting - Discipline    10. Sociology    11. Special needs adoption    12. United States    13. Child, Institutionalized    14. Disabilities    15. Discipline    16. Institutional care    17. Learning Disabilities    18. Special Needs   

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• Illustrated

Reviews (2)

Essential reading for adopting parents-to-be
My husband and I are adopting a toddler from our state's foster care system and I looked everywhere for a book that included adopting out of foster care. It seems like all the adoption books out there are outdated and geared towards the international or domestic infant adoptive parents and I could not find one that encompassed are adoption scenario. I was extremely excited to find this book-Christian to boot!-had just come out. It is very thorough for EVERY situation-even going into parenting after the child arrives home in each given adoption type.
Awesome Resource!
We are currently in the process of adopting our twin girls from Guatemala.I wish I would have had this book to read before we started the adoption process. This book was an awesome resource on international, domestic, and foster/adoption.Tons of information and yet very personal. Wonderful stories of adoption miracles. The best part is getting that Christian perspective which is so incredibly important with any and all aspects of our lives. I am going to purchase a few extra copies of this book to have handy for any family, friends, neighbors, or even stragers that would like to read more on adoption today. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Adoption And Adoption Services    3. Christian Life    4. Christianity - Christian Life - Family Relationships    5. Christianity - Christian Life - General    6. Religion    7. Religion - Relationships    8. Christian Living/Relationships/Family Concerns    9. Family & Relationships/Adoption    10. Religion / Amish    11. Religion / Relationships    12. Religious Orientation/Christian    13. Theometrics/Evangelical    14. Topical/Adoption   

Reviews (1)

A fantastic and powerful collection
Collections of family essays can be a tough slog - for the readers as well as the families - but this one manages the terrain with deft insight and incredible eloquence. I received an early copy of this book from a friend and have been doling it out to myself in small, pleasurable doses. The essays are funny, dramatic and poignant. The best of the lot are from established writers like Paula Fox and A.M. Homes, but the lesser-knowns are great too. Adoption may now be a part of the mainstream American experience but what's clear from his book is how every family's story is unique. Each essay reveals the secrets, the fears and, of course, the love that lies just beneath the surface of every relationship. Whether you're a parent or a child, in a biological family or an adoptive one, this collection is a must read.
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Subjects:  1. Adoptees    2. Adoption    3. Adoption And Adoption Services    4. Adoptive parents    5. Biography    6. Case studies    7. Family & Relationships    8. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    9. Family/Marriage    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Family & Relationships / Adoption   

Reviews (1)

GREAT alternative to the traditional baby book!!!
When my husband and I brought our little angel home, we were stumped to find a baby book that worked well for an adopted child.The Baby Story memory kit was the perfect solution!!!We could create the story of our daughter's adoption and include all her "baby firsts" that would be a true original.The process is so simple and you can really make a beautiful book... no matter what your skill level might be.This makes a great baby gift for anyone; because it's something the child will never out grow or get bored with.What kid doesn't love to read all about them selves? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Blank Books / Diaries / Memory Books    3. Crafts & Hobbies / General    4. Family & Relationships    5. Family/Marriage    6. Life Stages - Infants & Toddlers/General    7. Scrapbooks, Memory Books    8. Crafts & Hobbies   

Reviews (1)

This is a wonderful book for first time adoptive parents!!!
Richard Mintzer has written a book that will help Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Family & Relationships    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Family/Marriage    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Intercountry adoption    7. Parenting - General    8. United States   

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Adoption And Adoption Services    3. Child Care/Parenting    4. Children with disabilities    5. Family & Relationships    6. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    7. Parenting - General    8. Parents of children with disab    9. Parents of children with disabilities    10. Psychology    11. United States    12. Birth    13. Child welfare    14. Coping with disability    15. Disability: social aspects    16. Family & Relationships / Parenting   

Reviews (5)

Straight-forward Information

This is a great book!
This is one of four how-to adoption books my husband and I bought in our plan to start an adoption. It was BY FAR the best. It was clearly written and laid out the information just as I would have done. The amount of detail was increadible, as no other books came close. We loved the step-by-step approach, and the insightful tips the author gave on finding a qualified agency or attorney, and how to eliminate the ones to avoid. He bluntly says what others seem to hesitate to do. He is an adoption attorney himself, and his tips are great. What a let Down
As soon as I read this book, I wished I was the type of customer who sent back books of little value.We have just began the process of adoption and we are exploring the different avenues available in domestic adoption so I thought this book would be helpful, but instead I found the same information I was able to obtain in less than one day at the computer, by entering "Adoption" in my search engine. The chapter containing the laws of every state was concise and puts it all in one easy package but I am not sure if that is enough to make this worthwhile. The book also lacked any real material on the homestudy process, what you might excpect from agencies versus attorneys versus state agencies, and the pros and cons of each.So if you are completely new to the process of adoption, want the facts and nothing but the facts, are pretty sure that you want to use an attorney and conduct your own search for a prospective birth mother, then this book is for you.If not you might want to look elsewhere ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Adoption And Adoption Services    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Family/Marriage    6. Practical Guides   

Reviews (2)

Supporting an Adoption
This booklet is very informative.We ordered several to share with close family, friends, and our church family.I would recommend it in helping educate others about your adoption.
Every adoptive family should have 2 copies of this book.
This short, readable book gets straight to the point: Friends and Family often undermine adoptive parents' authority and parental role during the adjustment and attachment process.This causes immediate and long-termproblems when we are building an attachment with children who have specialattachment needs.This book explains what family and friends should expectduring an adoption, how they can help, and how they can stay out of the waywhen there are problems.It explains some of the health, emotional andbehavioral issues that are common to newly adopted children which aredifferent from usual childrearing concerns.Adopted children need preparedand well-supported parents -- it is their most important special need.WeNEED for our friends and family to understand what to expect, and thisshort book is perfect to help get the message through to those who may tryto dismiss our concerns at a time when we need their understanding themost.I recommend this book to everyone who knows an adoptive family.Ioften tell my new adoptive-parent friends to buy 2 or 3 copies, one to keepand the others to hand out when needed.(I didn't get paid to say that,really!) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Family / Parenting / Childbirth   

Reviews (5)

A little editing could go a long way...
This book is required reading by our adoption agency. While I applaud Mr. Gritter's committment to his subject I have to say that it's a hard read. I think a little editing would have gone a long way as he tends to make his points over and over and over. Plus he feels so strongly about his opinions that he comes off a little heavy handed. On the plus side, many of the chapters (particularly the one about pain) were valuable as was the chapter on commercialization which confirmed our feeling that advertising for a baby through independent adoption wasn't right for us. Maybe the most valuable thing was that reading the book helped us understand what our agency's values were and helped us feel that we'd made the right choice for our situation. I would highly recommend another book suggested by the agency, The Open Adoption Experience. It was a wonderful and non-judgemental book written for adoptive and birth families. It covered not just the adoption itself but raising the child and other issues. It had tons of examples and really helped me think through a lot of things I hadn't considered before.

Too dry, not enough examples and true life stories
If you like intellectual musings and lofty philosophical principles about adoption, read this book. I could only take a couple chapters of Gritter. My wife read more and felt discouraged about adopting. An adoptive parent we know couldn't get through the first chapter. "Too dry", she said. BIAS AGAINST ADOPTION
Most of this book gives a fair and healthy picture of the advantages to open adoption. The target audience seems to be social workers in the field of adoption and NOT perspective adoptive parents.This book IS clinical inform and often long winded.But the author ends the text (chapters 14& 15 in particular) by ranting about the evils of adoptions that arenot completely open.By reading these chapters, it seemed as if the authorwanted me to feel guilty for wanting to parent a child what was not mybiological child.This leaves the feeling that the author is biasesagainst choosing an adoption plan over parenting a biological child.Weactually learned tonight that our agency (dedicated to the counsel andcaring of birth parents) has pulled this book from it's recommended readinglist.My wife and I are dedicated to being parents, and ministering tobirth parents by raising their child in an open adoption. The negative toneof Gritter's book almost made us reconsider this option.If you are aperspective adoptive parent read Field's "Should You Adopt" and Silber& Speedlin's "Dear Birthmother,"but do not read Ritter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Adoption And Adoption Services    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Human Services    5. Open adoption    6. Social Science    7. United States   

Reviews (15)

Negative, Overgeneralized, Poorly Written
I only read through the first third of the book before I had to give up on it.Often the authors overgeneralize - they take a statement made to them by one person of color and then say that all people of color feel the same way.That's not only counterproductive, it borders on perpetuating racism.
great book!
This was the best book I read on transracial adoption. The authors not only are experts in the field but have experienced it personally. You should not adopt a child of another race without reading this book.

GreatAdvice
When I read this book, I wish I were young again and could adopt children from other races. We went the "easy" way and adopted a baby in 1969 that matched our skin,but did not then proceed to adopt a second transracial child.Frankly, at that time, we would not have been up to the challenge. Today, I see white families in our neighborhood one of which has adopted two black boys who give me hugs when I walk by their house, and the other, next door, have a Chinese and Korean girl. This is wonderful progress which I feel in my own veins. I heartily recommend Steinberg's and Hall's strategies of "concrete tools for operating in a racist world." Read more

Subjects:  1. Adopted children    2. Adoption    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Family/Marriage    6. General    7. Intercountry adoption    8. Interracial adoption    9. Minority Studies - Race Relations    10. Psychology    11. United States   

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    3. General    4. Philosophy    5. Sociology - Marriage & Family    6. Family & relationships   

Reviews (1)

An Excellent Resource!
From 1853 to about 1929, more than 200,000 children and several thousand adults were sent west on "orphan trains," leaving crowded urban areas on the East Coast behind. Holt's book focuses on the placing outsystem--from its creation to its demise--instituted by the Children's AidSociety of New York. Estimates of the number of destitute children livingin the streets of New York in 1853 ranged from 10,000 to more than 30,000.Charles Loring Brace, who became secretary of The Children's Aid Societybelieved there was no better place for vagrant or outcast children than"the farmer's home." Placing out removed destitute children fromthe streets of New York City, placing them with families in the west. Thesystem was intended to provide Christian homes and families for orphaned orabandoned children while fulfilling the demand for workers on farms inAmerica's heartland. The author also discusses other charitableorganizations that imitated Children's Aid Society initiatives. She usesoral histories, institutional records, and newspaper accounts to bring theorphan train era to life in this balanced account, highlighting both thepositive and negative aspects of the placing out system. Her discussion ofsocial and economic structures of the 19th century help readers view thetopic in context. This is a "must read" for anyone conductingfurther research in the topic, or readers who are simply interested in thislost chapter of American history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    3. History    4. History - U.S.    5. History: American    6. Orphan trains    7. United States - General    8. Child welfare    9. The Americas    10. USA   

Reviews (5)

Straight from the heart...
I have this book on tape. This family reminds me so much of our own.We are out the other end of the tunnel now as well with a very positive outcome.
Wonderfully written book that gives hope and direction to families
I work with families who are struggling to find hope and healing for their children who have attachment issues.The Jonathon Letters provides a rich and meaningful story of the hopes, fears, struggles and triumphs of one family in their journey.I have already begun strongly recommending this book to the families with whom I work and have added it to my list of required reading for both the staff members and parents with whom I work.This book provides a wonderfully honest and realistic insight into the hopes and fears so many families face.

Enlightening and Informative Book
With over 17 years of experience working with severely traumatized children in a residential treatment setting, this is one of the most helpful and enlightening books I have come across.It challenged me to look at the children and adolescents I work with in a different light and gave me new and innovative ideas to be able to work much more effectively with our children.The suggestions that Michael gave Lorie were strategies that I have used repeatedly and found effective. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Attachment disorder in children    2. Social Science    3. Children's Studies    4. Family & Relationships    5. Children with Special Needs    6. Adoption    7. Adopted children    8. Mental Illness    9. Foster children    10. Abused children   

Reviews (11)

Adoption for the Current Generation
I read most of this book in one night - not because it was amazing but because it made me angry. The author creates a portrait of adopted children through sweeping generalization that would have you believe they are all damaged goods. How do I know this is NOT true? Because I'm adopted.
Lost and Found The Adoption Experience
Lifton displays powerful insight and perspective of the adult adoptee.A must read for those researching the adoption experience, Lifton opens the psyche to experiencing the adoption world beyond the archaic "closed" system to a more humane, child-centered, open system.The research results presenting how the adult adoptee experiences life from an "outsiders" point of view would make anyone social worker with a heart consider the real issues in the adoption experience.

If you read only one...this is it.
In my life, reunion wasn't reality until my life was my own-so I went about it with some organizational ability. Information and what to do with it was what I wanted and this gave me great help in that direction. Those triad members who believe their status hasn't affected their lives, just haven't figured it out yet. My adoption 50 years ago has colored every relationship since that first one that ended (physically) 3 weeks after my birth. In order to put together the pieces of 'why' I am....important parts needed to be found, so I set about looking. BJ Lifton helped with a compassion I hadn't found before her book. There are many emotions connected with searching-and finding-no matter how pleasant or how ugly-and one Can't anticipate many of them without some help. Help is within the pages of this one. The one piece of information-above all else-she taught me, was that my search was mine. I owned it and could choose to do it, or not, at my level of comfort. After reunion, boundaries need to be built, in order to protect that comfort. The book helped me start that so when the time came, I could hold back until I knew just how far I could go-how far I could allow the others to come. All in all, it was like having a big sister, walk through it with me. She's a good friend-even if she's not aware I'm out here! Thank you BJ! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adopted children    2. Adoption    3. Child Care/Parenting    4. Children, Adopted    5. Family relationships    6. General    7. Parenting - General    8. Psychology    9. United States   

Reviews (4)

This Book is Complete Nonsense
It is out of date, offensive and so off base that it is doing a huge disservice to new firstparents. It needs updated. It needs to use better language. And it needs to tell firstparents that their grief doesn't magically dissipate at any set date. The longing and pain can last a lifetime. And, frankly, that's normal, not abnormal. Let's be honest with firstparents. Otherwise we're setting them up for emotional failure.

Not impressed.
This is not a book that I would recommend.While it may have one or two good points, it has an overall negative tone that radiates off of each page.The title is wonderful and it is too bad that it is used on this book.I was expecting more from a book with this title.

A must-read for any birthparent at any point ofexperience.
This book was such an eye opener for me.I realized that so much of what I went thru after I gave my son up for adoption was completely normal.Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Adoption And Adoption Services    3. Birthparents    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Loss (Psychology)    6. Psychological aspects    7. Psychology    8. United States   

Subjects:  1. Adoption    2. Canada    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Family/Marriage    6. United States    7. Family & Relationships / Adoption    8. USA