Search for Paul David [Paperback]

Pauline A. Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994

THE SEARCH FOR PAUL DAVID

A birthmother's true story - and more. Includes search tips and search resources. Highlights strategies and obstacles in obtaining hospital, adoption, and birth records. Relates perspectives of other searchers, as well as their trials and triumphs in seeking lost kin. Shares experiences regarding the employment of a professional searcher, the use of an intermediary, the value of a support group, the reactions of family members, and the reactions of found adoptees. Highlights author's reunion with twenty-three-year-old son.

Is adoption "The Solution" for unmarried mothers who refuse abortion? Is continuation of pregnancy a crime, punishable by the signing of relinquishment papers? Discusses loss, grief, posttraumatic stress disorder, and birthmother trauma syndrome. Cites research.

Sheds light on professional ethics and adoption. Compares the effects of closed-adoption secrecy to the effects of forced silence surrounding incest. Reflects on whether it is moral for adoption agencies (and others) to abort an unwanted biological mother. Points out the present realities of both closed adoption and open adoption. Presents careful research and appendices, including useful bibliography and resources.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"The story of a woman searching for her son--and the part of her soul she lost at his conception and surrender..." (Sue Martin, adoptive mother and spouse of an adoptee, search counselor with Truth Seekers in Adoption, Chicago)

"A heart-felt cry for justice. An 'unwed mother' from the 1960s demonstrates the poisonous context in which she was coerced to relinquish her child--and the terrible toll of the separation." (Ricky Solinger, author of Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race Before Roe vs. Wade (Routledge 1992)

Until the past decade, few people recognized the long-term trauma suffered by birthmothers who had given their children up for adoption. Furthermore, the healing experienced by a mother and child reunion was often undocumented. Now, in Search for Paul David, Pauline A. Evans chronicles the tremendous search for her son and the psychological healing the discovery brought.

The author deftly handles the ever-present controversy of agencies and institutions and their role in the adoption process. She details suggestions for finding a lost child, and empathizes with all parties involved: the child, the birthmother, and the adoptive family. This explosive and pungent work is a must for anyone affected by adoption.

About the Author

Author of two books and the founder of ADOPTION EDUCATION, Pauline A. Evans holds degrees in sociology, psychology, and health education. She is the mother of two sons and two daughters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: Northwest Pub (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569011613
• ISBN-13: 978-1569011614
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,613,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, powerful, powerful!!, April 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Search for Paul David (Paperback)

A spellbinding story by a truly gifted writer

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Search for Paul David, December 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Search for Paul David (Paperback)

While maternity homes were viewed as punitive and humiliating experiences, birthmothers had others like themselves to commiserate with. But, not all birthmothers had the maternity home experience! Many were shipped out of town to serve time as maids, cleaning ladies, and nannies in exchange for a bed and food to survive. (I know of one young woman who had to care for two toddlers and an infant.) Still others lived in tiny apartments during pregnancy and moved to another location after relinquishment. Evans did not go to a maternity home. As a result, for more than two decades she didn't know of any woman who had surrendered her baby for adoption! Evans tells how she felt alone and isolated in her secret pain. Regardless of the setting where they lived out their pregnancies, birthmoms do share a sense of powerlessness! Most were sentenced to a life of inner shame, of unresolved loss. I give Evans five stars because her story shows the strength of the human spirit to survive.

5.0 out of 5 stars A reader from Danville, California, February 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Search for Paul David (Paperback)

This is an excellent book. If you or someone you know has is considering adoption as a birthmother or adoptive parent, you really ought to read this book. This book gives a detailed account of a woman's long ordeal from the point of being raped, pressure from the church to give up her son, her sense of loss, her search for her son, the triumphant moment when her son is found and then, finally the joyous time they meet again! An uplifting book that shows that with a determined spirit you can accomplish most any thing and in this case, find a lost loved one!