The Unofficial Guide to Adopting a Child (Paperback)

~ (Author) "If you are thinking about adopting a child, especially an infant, you are not alone..." (more)
Key Phrases: state adoption specialist, experienced adopters, licensing specialist, United States, Bright Idea, Reactive Attachment Disorder (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The process of adoption - be it an open or a closed adoption, domestic or international - is seldom simple, short, or standardized. It can often take many years of frustrating and expensive searching before parents can bring an infant or child home, and once they do, they face a whole new set of challenges as they learn together to be a family.

The Unofficial Guide to Adopting a Child gives prospective adoptive parents the inside scoop on:

• How long it will really take to adopt, and how much it will cost
• What the challelnges are for single people, older couples, and gay lesbian couples seeking to adopt
• What the all-important home study entails -- from writing the autobiographical statement to creating a child-friendly atmosphere
• What questions to ask agency personnel and birth parents -- and what questions to refuse to answer

From the Publisher

The process of adoption - be it an open or a closed adoption, domestic or international - is seldom simple, short, or standardized. It can often take many years of frustrating and expensive searching before parents can bring an infant or child home, and once they do, they face a whole new set of challenges as they learn together to be a family.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028634942
• ISBN-13: 978-0028634944
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,415,599 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fringe therapies and beliefs about adoption, June 15, 2005

By	Jean Mercer - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This well-meaning book unfortunately presents an entire chapter on ideas about Reactive Attachment Disorder derived from the belief system of a "fringe therapy" and not on scientific understanding of early personality development. In a list of organizations that are sources of help for adoptive parents, the book includes the "Attachment Center at Evergreen", at the time of publication a hotbed of treatments involving physical restraint and emotional intimidation of children. A child's death at the hands of therapists occurred in the year that this book was published and was connected with some of the ideas discussed
by the author. I would hope that a revised version of this publication would be more cautious about this topic. Meanwhile, readers should be warned that this edition's discussion of Reactive Attachment Disorder, and of the whole issue of attachment, is profoundly inaccurate and deceptive.

Jean Mercer, Ph.D.
President, New Jersey Association for Infant Mental Health

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unofficial Guide to Adopting a Child is my official resource, July 22, 2000

By	Cybrnurse "Cybrnurse" (Granite Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The Unofficial Guide to Adopting a child is a extremely helpful resource. I appreciated the fact the author is the coordinator of the Vermont Adoptive Parent Support Network and is involved in adoptive training and workshops for parents and professionals. She is experienced in the challenging needs of adoptive children and has inside information. I like the way the book was formatted.

The book gives you comprehensive coverage of the necessary and vital information you'll need in order to decide if foreign or domestic adoption is right for you and if so how to go about it step by step. The information is up to date and presented in a sensible, concise, readable and applicable fashion.

I also felt the special features like: what to watch out for, moneysavers, timesavers and bright ideas were extemely pertinent and helpful. There is a very complete appendix in the back of the book with many valuable resources for both domestic and foreign adoption included.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone considering or in the process of adopting a child.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unofficial Guide to Adopting a Child is my official resource, July 22, 2000

By	Cybrnurse "Cybrnurse" (Granite Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The Unofficial Guide to Adopting a child is a extremely helpful resource. I appreciated the fact the author is the coordinator of the Vermont Adoptive Parent Support Network and is involved in adoptive training and workshops for parents and professionals. She is experienced in the challenging needs of adoptive children and has inside information. I like the way the book was formatted.

The book gives you comprehensive coverage of the necessary and vital information you'll need in order to decide if foreign or domestic adoption is right for you and if so how to go about it step by step. The information is up to date and presented in a sensible, concise, readable and applicable fashion.

I also felt the special features like: what to watch out for, moneysavers, timesavers and bright ideas were extemely pertinent and helpful. There is a very complete appendix in the back of the book with many valuable resources for both domestic and foreign adoption included.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone considering or in the process of adopting a child.