Customer Reviews

Odyssey of an Unknown Father: The Complete Book on Wrongful Adoption

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David's book is not an easy read. To quote one of the previous reviews, the book contains "Convoluted sentences, mis-matched syntax, and sarcastic comments that don't relate to the material..." At times I found myself wondering what exactly David was trying to say, YET this book is a must read. Why? Because maybe, just maybe, there is a chance that by someone reading this book another adoption tragedy will be prevented. Maybe that someone will be a prospective adopting parent, a pregnant woman considering adoption but not considering telling the birthfather, or a lawyer who should know better.

My personal suggestion to David is that he get help rewriting this book so that it will be written in a clearer and more succinct manner. I have no doubt that David has an important and tragic story to tell that should be heard.

I was surprised to find out that Rosie O'Donnell had funded this Children of the World Adoption Agency. However, I was more surprised of means and the ways of the State of New Jersey when it comes to infant adoption. Now I know why they call this state "Jersey." This book tells all and proves all with documented facts. How can a State operate like this. This guy was robbed! . This book is a technical read if anything at all. That is how they steal these children. Through technicalities. It was well worth my time reading it that's for sure. P.S. If you are going to adopt, read this book. The LIBRARY OF CONGRESS has, and liked what they read. [...]

Don't be taken in by the tease on the back cover: "This book will teach you [prospective adoptive parent] what to look for to spot fraud or unethical maneuvers in the adoption process and to avoid this terrible scenario when you welcome a child into your home." Sadly, it doesn't follow through on that promise.
What it is: This is David Archuletta's personal story as an alleged father whose former partner committed perjury by signing an Unknown Father Affidavit [in New Jersey] in spite of his having been somewhat involved in the pregnancy until she left her Colorado home to do an adoption -- but the reader has to make it through a third of the book to learn that. Convoluted sentences, mis-matched syntax, sarcastic comments that don't relate to the material -- it's difficult to find the meat.
Mr. Archuletta has two important messages to deliver: don't assume that adoption is the best solution to every unwed pregnancy, and, the baby's father has important information to share, including (in his case) his potentially dire medical history. Mr. Archuletta should not have been left out of this important decision for his child. Whether his involvement might have meant a different outcome or not, his rights were discounted.
Mr. Archuletta's story should be a reminder to adoption agency workers and adoption attorneys why a best services practitioner should refuse to do an adoption when a pregnant client refuses to identify the father. To do less is to risk loss of licensure.
HOWEVER, this is one of those books that takes one situation and generalizes it to all adoptions. It well may be that Mr. Archuletta's real intent was to scare prospective adoptive couples away from adoption all together. If that's the goal, he may have succeeded, but not in the way he planned.
You know that saying in legal circles that "The person who serves as his own attorney has a fool for a client"? Well, meet the book publishing version: "The self-publishing author who acts as his own editor shows himself as a fool." By the tedious end of his book, the author comes off as a wigged-out psychopath on a rant. Where I once had a modicum of sympathy for his case, he's done his cause a disservice by going on and on and on and on. David, get an editor!
Beth Kozan, Phoenix

After reading this book and understanding its content, anyone that is planning to adopt a newborn child will have been made aware of all that is wrong in the world of legal adoption . Incredibly, these things can happen with or without your consent or knowledge. This journal will walk you through the seedy side of adoption as practiced by State agencies, attorneys and governing bodies alike. Increasingly, States are now leaning toward legislation that treats birthparents as "tools" of the trade, rather than having a face of humanity. As an example, New Jersey's State Statute N.J.S.A. 9:3-39 1 [b, c] for the last eleven years has enabled the access for a double-standard of birth father law should an attorney wish to employ. Therein enticed, a good attorney can "turn" bad.

Here is a book review:

P.U.L.P.

THE PUBLICATION WITH THE EVER-CHANGING ACRONYM

PUEBLO, COLORADO

A Book Review by Nicole Maio

"Odyssey of an Unknown Father"

The Complete Book on Wrongful Adoption

by David Archuletta

Just before her due date, the pregnant girlfriend of David Archuletta abruptly left town and when she returned, she delivered some bad news; while she was away, she had suffered a miscarriage; the couple's baby was gone. But more than a year later she came forward with a surprising confession; she had not miscarried at all, but instead had secretly given up the newborn up for adoption to Children of the World Adoption Agency located in New Jersey.

At this point, Archuletta began digging for answers. At the center of his questioning was the adoption attorney and agency involved in placing his son with an adoptive family. His main concern was why he, as the birthfather had not been notified or contact acted by those facilitating the adoption --- a requirement of New Jersey adoption law --- and given fair chance to exercise his parental rights.

In his self-published memoir, Odyssey of an Unknown Father, local author David Archuletta chronicles his long, multi-year battle against the New Jersey adoption system. That system, he argues, is responsible for the wrongful adoption of his son, having placed the newborn baby in an adoptive family without the birthfather's consent.

Stories about wrongful adoption are certainly not very common, but as Archuletta points out in his book:

"In the world of adoption, this type of deception does not happen much when gauged in numbers and percentages. However, when gauged in human lives, one is more than we should allow."

With many different elements and layers involved, Archuletta's account is indeed a complicated one, and it can be easy to become tangled up in the vast web of information and details that form his case. His anger with his unfortunate situation is apparent, flaring up throughout the book, and much of his writing is emotionally charged. He levels serious accusations against Children of the World Adoption Agency, along with the attorney involved with his son's placement, and goes into much depth presenting his suspicions, that those in charge of the proceeding did not do all that was required of them by law to notify the birthfather of the pending adoption.

Utilizing the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, Archuletta cites numerous documents and letters pertaining to his case to help defend his claims. But he goes further and offers his speculations and theories as to what was going on behind closed doors.

Despite his efforts, Archuletta has never been able to see his son face to face. Acknowledging how much time has passed since his ordeal began, he notes that his intent is no longer to obtain custody but rather just to have a chance to communicate with his son. He writes:

"I must consider my son's life as it is now, a person cannot change one's past; he can only mold his future. Considering this, and after much thought, an attempt to mold my son's future would be to try to change his past. This would be an act against nature. I will not seek custody."

Because it centers on adoption laws, the writing is heavy with legal language, which might make it difficult for this book to speak simply to a larger, more general audience of readers. But beneath all of the specific legal details is a story of a father trying to connect with his lost son; and that is the theme that readers may be able to relate to and sympathize with, even if they have never directly experienced such a situation.

There are countless stories about the controversial issue about adoption. There are also countless stories about children finding their birth parents, women giving up their babies and about the absentee fathers ... there are so many heart-breaking stories out there but there is a strange silence on the matter of the fathers' perspective. One do not hear about the birth fathers. It is assumed that they don't care because they're not raising a fuss about their position in this adoption issue. However, there is finally a book about a man who discovered that he does have a child out there somewhere. This is his story about the fighting the legal system in his quest for the truth to what really happened.

There is a lot of legalese information in this book and it can be confusing, but don't give up because he tries to share his story as thoroughly as he possibly can. It is a very important story. One critic that has read his book decries at the end of her review that Mr. Archuletta needs an editor, well, maybe so, but considering that he's publishing his book on his own (presumably because a publishing house didn't find the topic a hot button? Presumably the subject matter is controversial?), he did a heck of a job writing this book. It is both emotionally charged in areas and very proficient in others. He is describing his fight for truth and for justice after all, his voice was silenced by the birth mother who claimed that there was no father involved. His voice was also silenced by lawyers and counsels involved with the adoption agencies. They tried but he refused to give up the battle.

As one reads this man's harrowing journey in the adoption process, one cannot help but feel for him as he has to fight against all odds. First, he was misled by his girlfriend who told him one story about their child, then to find out when the same woman is exhorting the adoptive parents for more money that his presumably dead infant had indeed been given away without his knowledge or consent. Then when he embarked on the journey to find out the truth and to find his child, he was stonewalled at every turn of his journey. It is a murky issue and one that a lot of the professionals involved were hesitant to embark on because of the risks to their careers. But Archuletta kept on pushing for the truth. He realizes that he may never see his child, but he is pursuing justice so other fathers will have a chance to have their voices heard and their rights won't be discarded so easily when a woman decides to sign over an infant to another couple without giving the biological father a chance to keep his child.

This is a must-read for all readers, whether or not they're law students or your average reader. It is rare for a book to be out there in the publishing field about a man fighting to see his own child and for his own rights as a father who was never told the truth about his son's birth. This is a story of a fight that must be continued in the pursuit of the truth and of keeping the biological father's rights as it is without disregarding it. Yes, there are men out there who don't care about their responsibilities as a father, but there are men out there who do want to remain involved in their children's lives and their voices should be heard as well.

3/8/09