Product Description

This video presents ten things to consider in an adoption search and reunion. The process is an emotional journey that can take many unexpected twists and turns. The moderator, Sharon Roszia, is an nationally known adoption and permanency expert and trainer. Sharon shares her insights and lessons learned while highlighting the personal stories of an adult adoptee, Julie, and a birth mother, Wendy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #154679 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-11-21
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 59 minutes

Review
This DVD is very useful as a training tool for professionals; a discussion vehicle for groups, including all members of the adoption constellation; and a guide for anyone contemplating a search. There is no other DVD available that presents these issues in as forthright a way. The testimony of Wendy and Julie bring an intimate, personal and often emotional dimension to the 10 Things issues presented by Sharon Roszia. Birth parents and adult adopted individuals who viewed this video stated that they felt well represented, that it triggered strong emotions for them, bringing up issues that they identified with and some they had not thought of before. Several even thought the DVD was too short!! Adoptive parents viewing 10 Things: Adoption Search and Reunion said that it helped them to better understand both the birth parents of their children and the feelings and questions that the children they adopted might have about their own birth parents. The issues raised in 10 Things are also important for child welfare workers to think about as they are planning an adoption for a child. Gathering all available information for the child about relatives and important people in the childs life at the beginning of the process can smooth the way for an eventual search and reunion, should that become the adopted persons wish later in life. I have worked with birth parents and adopted adults involved in search and reunion for 30 years, and wish I had had this DVD to use as a tool long before now. I highly recommend 10 Things: Adoption Search and Reunion as a unique and valuable addition to the lexicon of adoption resources. --Carol J. Bishop, LMFT, Executive Vice President, Kinship Center

Customer Reviews

I Wish I Had Had This Film When I did My Search
As a birth-mother who found my daughter when she was 18, and whose relationship has grown steadily over the 15 years since then, I was particularly eager to view "10 Things: Adoption Search & Reunion." I began to watch, jotting down the steps therapist Sharon Roszia outlined, mentally evaluating how each segment fit with my experience. At the same time, I followed with rapt attention the reunion process of Julie, the adoptee, and Wendy, a birth-mom like me.

The advice, the cautions and the expectations which the film expands upon are CLEAR, ENLIGHTENING AND EXTRAORDINARILY PERCEPTIVE. I wish I had had such insights to help me in my own search.
Because for 20 years, I have belonged to support groups in three different states (CA, NC & NM), in addition to reading dozens of books on adoption, plus sharing the journeys of dozens of friends in their searches, I was reminded once again of the thread of similarty tieing us all together, yet also the complete uniqueness of each adoption story.

I can state with ENTHUSIASM that this DVD COVERED EVERY POSSIBLE FACET OF SEARCH & REUNION, many of which had never even occurred to me.
Naturally, I addressed each question the film posed. For example, I knew very well "Why" I was searching--I wanted the answers to two burning questions: 1) Is my daughter all right? 2) Does someone love her? Because my support group at the time had adoptees, adoptive parents and birth-parents, I knew it was important for my daughter (the adoptee) to control our reunion. Thus, I wrote her a letter (which I previewed with my support group before sending), introducing myself and giving her the choice to meet me. Two weeks later she came for our first week's visit, a time filled with laughter and tears.

As fate would have it, at the time I saw "10 Things: Adoption Search & Reunion," I was staying with my daughter's mother (her adoptive mom) , in town to meet "our" granddaughter for the first time. (yes, my daughter is now a happily-married mother.) We watched this DVD together, then shared our thoughts and feelings--how much of Wendy's story fit with my own, especially that sense of freedom she felt upon finding her son, Eric.

But my daughter's mother found it almost impossible to believe that adoptive families could be unaccepting, something she had never thought about. Ultimately, we again counted our blessings in having such a close relationship--like sisters--and laughed about how "our" daughter agreed with her not long ago when she said, "Let's face it, Pat. Sara needs two moms."

We each concluded that this DVD would be INVALUABLE to anyone wishing to begin a search. At the same time, we say that simply to learn where your child or birth-parent is, no matter what the outcome, will be worth the effort. THIS FILM IS SO FILLED WITH WISDOM, LOVE and SUPPORT that if an individual watches it a few times and is able to contemplate and take hold of its guidance, we both strongly believe that the choices you make will be more than satisfying.

In conclusion, I would say that "10 Things: Adoption Search & Reunion" can even serve as that "mentor" or "friend" it recommends.
I AM GRATEFUL TO ALL THOSE AT THE KINSHIP CENTER WHO BROUGHT THESE EXTRAORDINARY HISTORIES, PERCEPTIONS AND ADVICE TO US. I will be sharing it with everyone I know, especially those whose lives are touched by adoption.
Pat B. Kutay, birth mother