Customer Reviews

Parents at Last: Celebrating Adoption and the New Pathways to Parenthood

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In October, I was privileged to attend an elegant gallery opening in LA to launch a beautiful new photo essay book, PARENTS AT LAST: Celebrating Adoption and the New Pathways to Parenthood, by Cynthia Peck and Wendy Wilkinson and featuring the heart-felt images of an accomplished photographer, Helen K. Garber.

As an attorney who practices adoption and surrogacy law, I am always looking for that "perfect" book to enlighten myself and recommend to my clients. I have found it in PARENTS AT LAST.

PARENTS AT LAST provides hopeful parents and others with personal stories about the joys and rewards of building a family by an alternate route. Each story reminds us of the absolute miracle of bringing a child into this world and the resplendent wonders of raising a child, however, where ever, and by whomever the child is conceived. The challenges and the joys faced by each family in PARENTS AT LAST offer well needed comfort, support, and promise to readers preparing themselves for their journey and validate their choices for their family and friends---and ultimately, for their children, too.

PARENTS AT LAST is the collaborative effort of several exceptional talents, bringing together an ideal mix of seasoned and experienced backgrounds in the authors, Cindy Peck and Wendy Wilkinson, and the photographer, Helen Garber. Together, they present readers with the full spectrum of adoption and assisted reproduction possibilities. They provide intimate and vivid portrayals of same sex and single parent adoptions; adoptions of older children and those with special needs; adoption by stepparents and older parents; international and interracial adoptions; surrogacy; anonymous donor sperm insemination; and egg donation, in one case, by the recipient's own sister.

The personal autobiographical accounts of the parents are not only enlightening and enriching; they are also poignant and poetic. I have been so moved by the stories in PARENTS AT LAST that I have found myself recounting stories and lines from the book to my family, clients, and peers, and strongly recommend PARENTS AT LAST as a "must read!"

As an adoptive parent I found the stories in Parents at Last to ring true. It was so encouraging to see many different kinds of families gathered together in one book. There are many ways to go about creating a family. The only constant is love and commitment. Several of the stories reflect the parents feeling that their child was meant to be theirs. We also experienced that faith as we searched for our daughter 5 years ago. This is a beautiful book that I plan to share with our adoption support group.

This book offers hope & compassion to many people with the goal of creating a family. As the Mother of a stillborn son 18 months ago and with added discouragement of not yet conceiving again at age 35+, this book offers hope that there are alternatives to building my family should I need to go that direction. It's nice to know that I'm "not alone" in this quest. It was also wonderful to hear about the book on the "Today" show; that's what prompted me to purchase it.

This book is a must for any person who has ever dreamed of parenting and encountered obstacles. It's a great book for those who want to read some heartwarming stories that are REAL!

This book will definitely be given to many of the people on my Christmas List.

With their fingers on the pulse of American life, the authors of "Parents At Last" have captured the essence of the most important challenge facing us today - creating and nurturing families. While the media focuses on the breakdown of the family, this book focuses instead on creating family in its many forms - adoptive families, blended families, families who experience the wonders of cutting edge technological fertility. Through it all the underlying truths of family shine through: humor, communication, and most of all, love.

"Parents at Last" is written in a way that engulfs the reader. It is truly lighthearted and enjoyable to read. I purchased it as a gift for my husband, hoping that it would give additional encouragement for our quest to build our family. He also has enjoyed reading the book very much. After purchasing the many infertility and adoption books that we have, it was nice to be able to read a book that was easily read and didn't inundate us with medical jargon.

Loved this book. The tales of parenthood are inspiring and beautiful. How terrific that the authors keyed into the stories with compassion and hope. It's a book to be treasured.

The photographs in Parents at Last were the first gentle tug at my heartstrings. Helen Kolikow Garber artfully illustrates the 32 family stories told mostly in the first person. The black-and-whites illuminate the painful, joyful tales of how people create families in the late 20th century.

...Organized in four sections to reflect the process of family growth, Parents at Last carries the reader from home to home, detailing the agonies and ecstasies of parents with their children. From the authors' introduction, I was already choking back tears over the blessed connections and sacred lessons learned when a grown-up deliberately chooses to form a family. The adoption stories touched me the deepest, marked by those fabulous pictures of mostly dissimilar faces that share a knowing love.

Often throughout Parents at Last, grief is dealt with and resolved. Pain is accepted and released. Challenge is rife and drives many of the families to fulfill their loving desires. ...The unique stories in Parents at Last are filled with truth, hope and beauty.

So, while you might buy Parents at Last for its gorgeous photos, be sure to read it too. The beauty reaches beyond the page.

--Jeanne McGough, IVillage.com Book Club