The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Adoption: Everything You Need to Know About Domestic and International Adoption [Paperback]

Elizabeth Swire Falker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2006

So you've made the decision to adopt. What's next? For starters, how do you know whether domestic or international adoption is right for you? (And what are the real differences between the two?) Adoption insider Elizabeth Swire Falker answers these questions and many more. As an attorney who practices in the area of adoption and has worked with hundreds of families, and as an adoptive parent herself, she offers expert advice on each stage of the process. This comprehensive, accessible guide leads you with confidence through every decision you'll have to make-including the ones that you'd never know to expect. Complete with checklists, tips, sidebars, and plenty of counterintuitive advice, it shows you how to:

• Identify which adoption experts you do and don't need
• Find the right birth mother or choose the right country for your family-and how to spot red flags in potential situations
• Select an attorney or agency and prepare for your home visit
• Finance an adoption on a budget, manage the red tape, and get around the roadblocks
• Navigate all of the complex emotions that surface along the way. .
.

With Elizabeth Swire Falker's warm yet been-there-done-that voice, THE ULTIMATE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO ADOPTION is sure to become a tried-and-true resource for adoptive parents everywhere.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Life & Style (November 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446697303
• ISBN-13: 978-0446697309
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book out there, and I've read them all, January 11, 2007

By 

Leah Binder "Leaf" (Maine) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Adoption: Everything You Need to Know About Domestic and International Adoption (Paperback)

My bookshelf is lined with adoption books, and I can tell you this is by far the best one. Information is up to date, complete, and comprehensive. The book is well written, witty in places, and compassionate. The chapter on domestic adoptions is by far the most helpful of any book out there, with advice on waiting in the hotel while the Interstate Compact clears. Info on international adoptions is also very comprehensive. For anyone researching adoption, it is very important to get your information from the most updated and reliable sources, because there is incredible misinformation out there, and the various processes for different kinds of adoption change rapidly and profoundly.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Your one-stop adoption shop., May 26, 2007

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Adoption: Everything You Need to Know About Domestic and International Adoption (Paperback)

Elizabeth Swire Falker, The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Adoption (Warner, 2006)

Thinking of adopting? Elizabeth Squire Falker has made an attempt to write the only adoption book you'll ever need. Whether she succeeded or not, I can't tell you; we haven't gotten far enough along in the process to tell you from personal experience. She does certainly seem to have covered as many of the bases as possible, however, and has created a solid, easy to read adoption guide here.

Two possible caveats from the prospective reader: first, while Falker's writing style is mostly an asset here, there are some times where she goes overboard. (Someone confiscate the woman's exclamation point key before she writes another book.) Second, if you haven't yet decided whether to go domestic or international for your adoption and read both sections, be prepared for a good deal of overlap in the material. (For "a good deal" here, read "eighty to ninety percent"; if you're leaning towards one type, read that section, skim the other.) Other than that, though, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to prospective adoptive parents, and I'm sure I will be in coming years. *** ½

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have If You Are Considering Adoption, March 2, 2007

By 

K Mil (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Adoption: Everything You Need to Know About Domestic and International Adoption (Paperback)

I read the author's book on surviving infertility and when my husband and I decided to explore adoption - I bought this one as well. Elizabeth speaks plain english, does not sugar coat the truth and let's you know that you are not alone. I bought a couple of other books - which overwhelmed me - this book is more like an "Adoption for Educated Dummies" as well as a Girlfriend's Guide. Since I have been quoting it for the past week - my husband finally asked if he could read it . . .. On a serious note - it is a great pre-read before you attend any adoption information sessions and a great book to have at your side as you do your online research.