Adoption: A Research Guide

Adoption is a proceeding that creates a legal relation between a parent and a child. Adoption is generally done through public and private organizations or through direct placement with the help of a lawyer. The procedure is often complex, as are the many issues that develop around it. Many books and organizations exist to assist adoptive parents or provide support for adopted children. The terms and phrases listed in the subject headings below can be used to search for more materials in the library’s catalog and research databases. If you need further assistance, please ask a librarian.

Adopting on Your Own: The Complete Guide to Adopting as a Single Parent by Lee Varon. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2000. ISBN: 0374128839.
Offers practical advice for single parents who are considering adoption.

The Adoption Resource Book, 4th ed. by Lois Gilman. New York: Harper Perennial, 1998. ISBN: 0062733613.
Information on financing, international adoption, and a listing of more than 1,000 agencies and support groups.

The Encyclopedia of Adoption by Christine A. Adamec and William L. Pierce. New York: Facts On File, 2000. ISBN: 0816040419.
This A-to-Z reference addresses the social, legal, economic, psychological, and political aspects of the adoption experience.

How to Adopt Internationally: A Guide for Agency-Directed and Independent Adoptions by Jean Nelson Erichsen and Heino R. Erichsen. Fort Worth, TX: Mesa House, 2003. ISBN: 094035215X.
Leads readers through every phase of the international adoption process from finding an agency and organizing a home study to choosing a country.

Is Adoption for You?: The Information You Need to Make the Right Choice by Christine A. Adamec. New York: J. Wiley, 1998. ISBN: 0471183121.
Provides prospective adoptive parents with the information and inspiration for deciding whether to adopt.

Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child: Making Sense of the Past by Betsy Keefer and Jayne E. Schooler. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 2000. ISBN: 0897896912.
Offers background and practical information on discussing an adoptive child’s history.

There Are Babies to Adopt: A Resource Guide for Prospective Parents by Christine A. Adamec. New York: Citadel Press, 2002. ISBN: 0806523344.
Instructional manual for married couples or singles wishing to adopt infants.

Allison by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. ISBN: 039585895X.
Allison realizes that she looks more like her favorite doll than like her parents. She comes to terms with this discovery through the help of a stray cat.

Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye by Lois Lowry. New York: Laurel-Leaf, reprint ed., 1990, 1978. ISBN: 0440205417.
A teenage girl deals with not knowing the identity of her biological mother.

Heaven by Angela Johnson. New York: Simon Pulse, 2000. ISBN: 0689822901.
Marley, 14, finds out that the parents whom she has known and loved are not hers by birth.

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose A. Lewis. Boston: Little, Brown, 2000. ISBN: 0316525383.
A woman describes how she went to China to adopt a baby.

Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale by Karen Katz. New York: Henry Holt, 1997. ISBN: 0805050132.
A long-awaited baby is born, and the adoptive parents who have been dreaming of her fly far away to bring her home.

Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. ISBN: 006024528X.
A young girl asks her parents to tell her again about the cherished family story of her birth and adoption.

“Blessed by adoption: More Americans are adopting than ever before. Their stories are heartwarming sagas of hope, faith, and love,” by Jennifer Wilson. Better Homes and Gardens, February, 2003, v81, i2, p122.

“The long road home (adopting children abroad),” by Catherine Siskos. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, December 2000, v54, i12, p82.

“Priceless: That’s how adoptive parents describe their children. But adoption is also a financial transaction. A look at the intersection of money and miracles,” by Gay Jervey. Money, April 1, 2003, v32, i4, p119.

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About.com: Adoption
http://adoption.about.com
Includes support services and forums for adoption professionals and parents. Also contains a directory of legal information arranged by state.

Adoption.com
www.adoption.com
Contains information for parents, women who are pregnant, and those seeking reunions. Also includes directories of adoption professionals and discussion groups.

National Adoption Center
www.adopt.org
Supports all aspects of adoption, particularly for children with special needs and those from minority cultures.

National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
http://naic.acf.hhs.gov
Sponsored by the Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, this site includes a national directory of agencies, services, state officials, and support groups.