Customer Reviews

Memoirs of a Baby Stealer: Lessons I've Learned as a Foster Mother

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Considering Callahan's choice to raise therapeutic-level foster children (children diagnosed with behavioral and emotional abilities) one is first impressed with the author's ambition.

But it is the honesty, the frank and sometimes humorous descriptions of the successes and failures that endeared this reader to the book itself.

Callahan is a smart and intuitive foster mother, trained as an emergency-room nurse, who is great with the kids and has a special ability to step outside of the complex and emotional circumstances in which she finds herself. One is struck by the conclusions she arrives at as she is able to consider the situations in a clinical objective fashion. At one point she diagnoses a child in her care to have a rare genetic disorder, an affliction missed by doctors and social workers who had been shuffling the child around in the "system" for years.

It is the sudden and clear insights offered by Callahan during the tale that are most impressive about this story. Combined with true caring and compassion, common-sense offered in a world gone down the rabbit hole, this is a well-written, an easy and enjoyable read.

I think that this book is more than just a must for anyone who has had contact with the foster care system - I think that non-foster parents with teenagers will also find it to be a moving and worthwhile read about the struggles of raising children.

Callahan has become well-known in Maine recently as an activist looking to improve the foster care system, and a bright and articulate spokesmen for the children and parents who encounter foster care. This is a writer with many dimensions, extensive personal experience, and growing respect and influence in the foster care community.

Memoirs Of A Baby Stealer: Lessons I've Learned As A Foster Mother by Mary Callahan is the personal account of a foster parent and her struggles to cope with an uncaring child welfare system -- one that, in the words of the author, is "taking kids from places that aren't that bad, putting them in places that aren't that good, and completely ignoring the bond that exists between parent and child". Callahan's struggles and effort to help children, defend herself against unsubstantiated charges, dealing with power politics, and relate the stories of those in her care make Memoirs Of A Baby Stealer very highly recommended reading for anyone considering offering themselves to their community as a foster care resource.

Mary Callahan is very candid in describing the difficulties and struggles she encountered in the Maine Foster Care System. She tells the interesting and frustrating story of her struggles to advocate for the children with whom she is entrusted. It is clear to the reader, that Mary's exposure of the system, is aimed at trying to improve life for children and families in need of services from the state.

This book is really amazing. I work for an operating foundation that works with children in foster care. This book is an amazing look at the "other side" of the fence. So often we hear from the child's perspective, or from the state's perspective...so good to hear from the foster parents, the ones who raise these kids. Great book.

Mary Callahan's "Memoirs of a Baby Stealer" provides a frank first-hand account of the challenges of being a foster parent and dealing with the foster care system in Maine. If the experience of being such a care giver is not daunting enough, the lack of support and hostility faced, at times, from those administering the rules of the child welfare system would have been enough to dissuade even the most ardent of caretakers. It seeems as if one did not ask questions regarding the well being of children in their care or question their authority, things ran as always. Ms. Callahan vividly chronicles the challenges in the lives of five of her foster children. Hopefully, through her perseverance in presenting their stories, those who are in a position to do so will be motivated to improve the plight and lives of all of those in foster care.

The author evidently was an honest woman who sincerely wanted to be a foster mother. She tells of her awful experiences with CPS---which, of course, are nowhere near as awful as the children's experiences with CPS. This is a personal account, and it doesn't, for example, include an analysis of the effect of federal money paying to destroy families: $4k per child adopted, $6k per "special needs" child adopted, $0 for children returned hom.

I'm really glad that Mary Callahan wrote this book. She tells how she became a foster mother because she wanted to help abused children. As she got to know the foster children in her care, she found out that most of them did not come from abusive homes, and did not need to be in the system at all. They missed their natural parents, and were frustrated that the system would not even allow them regular visits with their parents. The book showed how the Child Protective Services did not really care about the well-being of the children. Many of the children had been abused in previous foster homes, and yet the abuse had been ignored.

Mary discovered that one of her foster children, Tina, a "funny looking girl" with a short fat neck had a genetic condition which was contribuing to her behavioral problems, but this condition had been overlooked by the system. When Mary described it to Tina's social workers they dismissed her concerns. Two of the boys in her care developed Munchausens symdrome to get attention, one by deliberately ingesting lead. In these situations also, the social workers and case workers would not do anything to help her cure the boys of this behavior. Ultimately, it was probably because she "made waves" in the system that the authorities falsely accused her of abusing Maria, another one of her foster children, to try to threaten her.

She came to the conclusion that the system is severely flawed and corrupted. A touching moment in the book was when the hijacking of 9/11 ocurred, and she thought that the most important thing was for the children to have contact with their parents to assure each other that they were alive and safe.

The book is a good expose of the corruption within CPS, and why the system needs to be seriously overhauled.

I liked this book. Was a great read, I work with children and it makes me realize that all children can be a challenge no matter what background they come from. I enjoyed the honesty and the importance of telling the reader what she had ot ential on a daily basis with the foster children in her care. I have read many foster care related books and some of them judge and compare and beg the reader not to become a foster parent. This book, on the other hand, wasn't in comparison to those. Yes, there was some griping about the kids but most of it was aout how each situation was different and how she was trying to help the children but got no help or good communication from the welfare offices or social workers.
I would recommend to any foster parent and to anyone who works with special needs children.

Excellent information. A must read for anyone who has had their children taken and is fighting to get them back as well as activists against the abuse of children by CPS.
Mary Callahan's stories about some of the children she cared for hold your interest as well as give you important information. It was hard to put the book down.

I purchased this book because I am interested in learning about fostercare. I have to say it was only mildly helpful. I did get a little information about how the department of Family and childrens services vs private agencys work, or do not work together. I feel tho the author uses the book to work out her own personal issues. While her work with these children is commendable. She seemed to be doing fostercare as a way to pay the bills. Most of the time she was too involved to be much help with these children. Perhaps she would make a better child advocate. In all I was less than pleased with the book. The book has little realtime information.