--Psychology Today
"Important and powerful...[the author] is concerned not just with adoptees but with the experience of adoptive parents and birth parents."

Book Description
Rich in insight and compassion, Lost and Found is an eloquent exploration of the psychological issues faced by adoptees and by all children who have been separated from a parent and denied the right to know their true origins. Betty Jean Lifton, herself an adoptee, draws upon her own experience and her extensive work with adoptees, birth mothers and fathers, and adoptive parents to explore the harmful effects of secrecy on the identity of a child and the liberating possibilities of openness. A new Preface links the psychology of the adopted to that of babies born of surrogacy and other reproductive technologies. And a new Afterword explores the most recent developments in the adoption field, such as post-adoption counseling, open adoption, and the controversy around the adoption syndrome. The author concludes with a code of rights and responsibilities for everyone in the adoption circle, along with an updated list of support groups and counseling clinics for the adoption triad in the United States and Canada.

A must-read for adoptees who are searching/reunited, June 23, 1999

Most Triadians (adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents) know that BJ Lifton is one of the definitive voices on adoption issues, and this book is one of my personal favorites of hers. If you buy no other search/reunion book, this is the one to have IMO.

I began my search for my birthmother in 1986, locating her finally in 1997. "Lost and Found" in particular helped me to deal with a lot of the issues that come up while searching, AND once you are reunited. There are even chapters on birthfathers and on siblings, something most books fail to mention or deal with.

It is important for those who decide to search to carefully consider their reasons for searching, and also to think about what their expectations are. If you are not prepared for the possibility of "anything can happen", you may be highly dissapointed or even devasted by the results.

I am glad that I chose to search, it has made my life complete in a way that wouldn't have been possible before I had the answers to my questions about where I came from, and who "my people" were. Though my reunion has had some major ups and downs, I don't regret my decision and I thank BJ Lifton for her insights that helped me get through the entire process.

~Reunited adoptee and adoptee rights activist Still ISO birthfather