Adoptive parents often experience the double trial of emotional responses to infertility and to the process of adoption itself, called "excruciating labor with no end in sight," by one adoptive mother. Would-be adoptive parents cycle through grief, anger, fear, anxiety, frustration, and guilt-and back again. All of these emotions cloud decision-making, at exactly the time that adoptive parents are making life-altering, irrevocable decisions: whether to adopt at all, to adopt an older child or an infant, or to parent a child with developmental delays, as well as other pressing questions. New empirical research by Kathleen Whitten, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist and adoptive mother, and other experts in the field contradicts many of the outdated myths presented to parents and written about in widely-used adoption guides. Whitten separates fact from fiction and leads parents by the hand through the many emotional impacts the process involves. Written in a reassuring, conversational tone, the author tells parents when they should listen to their heart-and when practical considerations are too important to ignore. Each chapter features workbook section with constructive exercises and stimulating questions. Adoptive parents do not need yet another book promising a "fast track" to a child or explaining how to collect documents. Instead, they need Labor of the Heart to help them through the difficult emotions and decisions about adoption.
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
Kathleen Whitten writes from her heart and her head, sharing her personal and scientfic expertise with parents planning or pondering adoption. This book is more than a resource; it's a companion. (Robert E. Emery )
From the Publisher
Adoptive parents often experience the double trial of emotional responses to infertility and to the process of adoption itself, called "excruciating labor with no end in sight," by one adoptive mother. Would-be adoptive parents cycle through grief, anger, fear, anxiety, frustration, and guilt--and back again. All of these emotions cloud decision-making, at exactly the time that adoptive parents are making life-altering, irrevocable decisions: whether to adopt at all, to adopt an older child or an infant, or to parent a child with developmental delays, as well as other pressing questions.
New empirical research by Kathleen Whitten, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist and adoptive mother, and other experts in the field contradicts many of the outdated myths presented to parents and written about in widely-used adoption guides. Whitten separates fact from fiction and leads parents by the hand through the many emotional impacts the process involves. Written in a reassuring, conversational tone, the author tells parents when they should listen to their heart--and when practical considerations are too important to ignore. Each chapter features workbook section with constructive exercises and stimulating questions.
Adoptive parents do not need yet another book promising a "fast track" to a child or explaining how to collect documents. Instead, they need Labor of the Heart to help them through the difficult emotions and decisions about adoption.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Place to Start,
By No Name "No Name" (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Labor of the Heart: A Parent's Guide to the Decisions and Emotions in Adoption (Paperback)
This book is a great starting place for someone interested in adoption. It helps the reader evaluate their feelings about parenting a child that isn't biologically connected to them. It connects the reader to their feelings about adoption as well as valuable sources of information concerning the adoption process.
If you're considering adopting a child, this book is a great starting point on an emotional and intellectual level.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for adoptive parents!,
By
This review is from: Labor of the Heart: A Parent's Guide to the Decisions and Emotions in Adoption (Paperback)
What a great book! This is exactly what adoptive parents need. There are no other books that talk about the emotions we deal with--frustrations from the paper chase, anger at the process, despair from waiting. This book showed me how to turn the negatives into a solid foundation for my child to come home to. It's based on solid science, too, not just somebody's idea. Don't adopt without this book!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
