Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #178674 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-23
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Based on a series of articles that he wrote for the Boston Globe, Pertman combines journalistic research and personal anecdotes in this stimulating overview of the trends and cultural ramifications of adoption. His views come through loud and clear: families should be "out" about their adoptive status, children should be told that they were adopted as early as possible and all members of the adoption "triad" (birth mother, child and parents) should try to stay in close communication. Suggesting that adoptive families have benefited enormously from the country's increasing acceptance of racial diversity, Pertman argues that the controversial 1994 Multiethnic Placement Act (which stipulates that transracial adoptions can not be legally prohibited) is a strong step forward in placing the interests of the individual child over those of an abstract, race-based notion of family. He also suggests that adoption itself has helped to instigate social change: in its role as an "institutionalized means of forming non-traditional families," adoption may help gay, multiracial and single-parent families gain greater social acceptance. Even so, Pertman contends, adoptive families are still subject to many hurtful stereotypes (e.g., the irresponsible birth mother; the selfish adoptive parents). Perhaps most harrowing is his discussion of the effect of "laissez faire" capitalist thinking on adoption policy and the largely unregulated nature of the "industry" that has sprung up around it (e.g., one woman tried to sell her baby on eBay; the highest bid was $109,100). This disturbing and hopeful book will primarily attract adoptive families and policy makers, who will find that it has much to say about our changing definitions of family, race and community. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Boston Globe
". . .valuable reading for policy makers, social service providers, all members of the adoption triad and their extended families."

From Booklist
Pertman brings a reporter's skill and adopting parent's concerns to this comprehensive look at the process of adoption. After years of incremental change, adoption is undergoing a revolution: states are revising laws and agencies are simplifying rules. Pertman also examines the trend toward opening adoption for singles, multiracial families, gays, and the middle aged. Although adoption is still fundamentally private, it is no longer shrouded in the secrecy of the past as more states allow for open adoptions and balance the rights and desires of birth parents, adopting parents, and adopted children. Pertman examines the history of adoption from the foundling homes of the nineteenth century to current trends that are "advancing the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity that is a hallmark of Twenty First Century America." This book is a valuable resource for adoptive families, readers considering adoption, or anyone concerned about trends in family formation. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A comprehensive & vital foundation
Adam Pertman, CEO of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, gives readers a comprehensive view of how far we have come in adoption reform. Understanding from where we have come is the vital foundation for motivating us to persevere in the areas of adoption in which we all work and strive. Thank you, Adam, for providing the foundation and the impetus to move forward. You have encouraged me in my sphere of influence.

Highly inspirational
Those of you who enjoyed ADOPTION NATION might like to know that public television wants to produce a documentary special inspired by this book. Like Adam's book, "Adoption: An American Revolution" will show the ways in which adoption today is increasingly inclusive, expansive, and affirming; the project will also include Web resources and outreach campaigns to schools and communities. Please visit www.adoptionfilm.org to find out how you can help: we must complete our funding by the end of 2005 or risk losing the project entirely! And keep watching the site - we expect to post new interview materials with Adam Pertman soon.

all families are different
"All families are different," goes the wisdom being taught our children in progressive schools, and Adam Pertman's _Adoption Nation_ explores and celebrates this difference in the particular context of adoptive families in the United States today. His is the most comprehensive general account I have seen of the contemporary redefinition of American family life being effected by adoption (among other forces). Pertman, himself an adoptive parent, opens the way to a brave new world in which affiliation is as valid a means of family formation as filiation.