Is Adoption for You? : The
Information You Need to Make the Right
Choice by Christine
Adamec
From
Booklist With her Encyclopedia of Adoption
(1991) and related works, Adamec has made
writing about adoption a cottage
industry. Her readable, well-researched
new book doesn't assume the reader is
intent on adoption; instead, it provides
prospective adoptive parents with the
information and inspiration for deciding
whether to adopt. Adamec poses questions
to consider when assessing oneself, one's
family, spouse, attorneys, and
pediatricians, so that the readers become
their own advocates. She discusses
transracial and international adoption,
single-parent adoption, infertility,
and--unusually evenhandedly--the option
of remaining childless. Unlike many books
on adoption, Adamec's neither gushes
about nor warns against it, and it offers
practical checklists, articulate reviews
of pertinent research, two dense
appendixes, and much more. Moreover, her
sensitive and realistic understanding of
children and their needs and her
fascinating critique of the concept of
bonding are reasons enough for anyone,
whether currently seeking to adopt or
not, to use the book as a reference and
guide. Jennie Ver Steeg