shedding light on...The Dark Side of Adoption (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author), Mirah Riben (Author) "In answer to the question, "Why this book?..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, New Jersey, Concerned United Birthparents (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...challenges the commonly held idea that adoption is a winning solution for everyone...this book is to be recommended as one of the few available which balances the more usual happy-ending adoption stories with a birthparent's reality...it is recommended for those who prefer the truth, even if unpleasant, to unquestioned adoption mythology." RESOLVE newsletter --RESOLVE newsletter

"A terrific book...it is dynamic! I will be asking my members to...purchase your book...I am constantly rereading sections." Parent Finders, Ontario "Although not an easy book for an adoptive parent to read, this is certainly an important book for anyone striving to understand all sides of the adoption triangle. The good news (for adoptive parents) is that Riben is not slamming adoptive parents...her really big guns are leveled at The System. I recommend that adoptive parents read this book." Gigi Wirtz, Families Adopting Children Everywhere (FACE) --Families Adopting Children Everywhere (FACE)

"Riben's presentation of the facts of the experience of parents by birth of children given to adoption is important reading. For such a book to be written requires first obtaining the confidence of such parents, and then to present their ex-perience in valid form. This Riben has been able to accomplish. It is an impressive achievement. Though painful to some to read, it is truth, rather than the pretense we are accustomed to relative to this complex subject." Jean Paton, Founder and Coordinator, Orphan Voyage, and author of Orphan Voyage and Breaking Silence --Direct ot Author --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

An expose of the sealed adoption system and those harmed by it. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Mirage (1988)
• ISBN-10: 0966206002
• ISBN-13: 978-0966206005
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,355,049 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A much-needed shedding of light in dark corners--a classic!, April 21, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Mary Anne Cohen) (Whippany, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Side of Adoption (Paperback)

This book should be required reading for anyone who wishes to know the whole truth about adoption. The research is well-done, and the facts are presented in a clear yet passionate journalistic style that illuminates the complex and controversial issues of adoption abuses it explores. Adoption does have a dark side--that for too long has been hidden behind sentimentality, lies, mindless stereotypes, and the travesty of sealed adoption records. I love this book--for the courage of its birthmother author in writing it, and for the honest picture it gives of the less lovely side of one of our last "sacred cows", sealed record adoption.This is an excellent piece of scholarship and investigative journalism that deserves a much wider readership than it has had, both within and outside of the adoption reform movement. I am glad to see it here, and reccomend it to all.