General Adoption Information:
Finding Your Child and Creating A Family
Adam Walsh Law
National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
About.com
National Adoption Center
AdoptNet
European Adoption Symposium

AdoptionHQ

VIDA

Exchanges & Photo listings:
Adopt America Network
The Adoption Exchange
AdoptUSKids
Children Awaiting Parents
National Adoption Center

U.S. Government listings:

Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS formerly INS)

U.S. Department of State

Joint Council on International Children's Services

Tax Information: Internal Revenue Service

National Child-Welfare Resource Centers:
National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoptions
National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues

Medical Related:
Attachment Disorder Support Group
Association for Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children
Children & Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
Parent Network for the Post-Institutionalized Child
About Our Kids
National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
Learning disabilities Association of America
Special Education Resources on the Internet

Medical Doctors Specializing in International Adoption:

Dr. Janem Aronson
Dr. Jenista - phone: 734 668 0419 (no web address)
Dr. Lisa Nalven
Dr. Bledsoe - phone: 206 598-3000 (no web address)
International Adoption Center - phone: 03-970-26541 (no web address)

To view an alphabetical list of further MDs, click here.

 

Open Adoption Resources:

"Adoption: The Family Of Origin And Birth"
American Adoption Congress (P.O. Box 44040, L'Enfant Plaza Station, Washington D.C. 20026) is a national umbrella organization for the myriad of small local organizations nationwide which offer support to searching birthparents and adult adoptees and which actively lobby for change in the adoption system.

Concerned United Birthparents (2000 Walker St, Des Moines, IA 50317) is a national support and advocacy organization for birthparents who have found adoption to be a negative force in their lives. Their newsletter CUB Reporter and a variety of fact sheets on issues of coping and search present a view which can be highly informative for professionals and for some adoptive parents, but many less well read adopters will find this material difficult and painful.

 

Travel Insurance for Adoptive Families:

http://www.travelprotectors.com/adoption.html

 

Recommended Reading:

Below is a list beginning with articles, then books and finally, at the very bottom some websites, which we have found helpful. Please contact us if you would like to suggest a title. We appreciate your help.

  • Articles:

How to Make the Wait for Your Child Easier to Bear by Debbie McCurdy - to view the article, click here. To download it, click on the format desired:

Word Format PDF Format
  • Books (arranged alphabetically by subject):

Adoption Information (video at end):

Adopting a Toddler: What Size Shoes Does She Wear?  By Denise Harris Hoppenhauer

Communicating with the Adopting Child, by Miriam Komar

Real Parents, Real Children (Parenting the Adopted Child), by Holly van Gulden & Lisa M. Bartels-Rabb

Being Adopted, The Lifelong Search for Self, by David Brodzinsky & Marshall D. Schicter.

With Eyes Wide Open: A Workbook for Parents Adopting International Children: Children’s Home Society of Minnesota

Complete Idiot's Guide to Adoption, by Chris Adamec

Launching a Baby's Adoption, by Patricia Irwin Johnston

Beating the Adoption Odds, by Cynthia Martin

There Are Babies to Adopt, by Christine Adamec  

The Private Adoption Handbook, by Stanley B. Michelman and Meg Schneider

The Whole Life Adoption Book, by Jayne Schooler  

Adopt the Baby You Want, by Michael R. Sullivan and Susan Shultz.  

Adopting Your Child: Options, Answers, Actions, by Nancy Thalia Reynolds

The Adoption Resource Book, by Lois Gilman  

Our Child: Preparation for Parenting in Adoption--Instructor's Guide, by Carol Hallenbeck, R.n.  

To Love a Child: A Complete Guide to Adoption, Foster Parenting, and Other Ways to Share Your Life with Children, by Marianne Takas and Edward Warner

Adoption and Disruption: Rates, Risks and Responses, by Richard Barth and Marianne Berry  

CWLA's Guide to Adoption Agencies, by Julia Posner

Videos: How-to Adopt - Winning at Adoption, by Sharon Kaplan (now Roszia) (Studio City, CA: The Family Network, 1991). A multimedia approach to making decisions about adoption style, this well put together package includes videotapes, audiotapes and workbooks.

Adoptive Parenting:

Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss, by Claudia Jewett Jarraatt

How to Raise an Adopted Child, by Judith Schaffer & Christina Linstrom

Raising Adopted Children, by Lois Melina

 

Attachment Disorder:

Attachment, Trauma and Healing: Understanding and Treating Attachment Disorder in Children and Families, by Terry M. Levy and Michael Orlans

When Love is Not Enough: A Guide to Parenting Children with RAD-Reactive Attachment Disorder, by Nancy L. Thomas

Holding Time, by Martha G. Welch

 

Children’s Adoption Books:

All Kinds of Families, by Norman Simon

How I Was Adopted, by Joanne Cole

We Wanted You, by Liz Rosenberg

A Mother for Choco, by Keiko Kasza

Why Was I Adopted? by Carole Livingston

 

Financial aspects:

How to Make Adoption an Affordable Option, by the National Endowment for Financial Education

Adoption and Financial Assistance: Tools for Navigating the Bureaucracy, by Rita Laws and Tim O'Hanlon;  Adoption Subsidy: A Guide for Adoptive Parents, by Tim O'Hanlon, Ph.D.

 

Infertility:

Adopting after Infertility, by Patricia Irwin Johnston

 

Older Child Adoption:

Our Own Adopting and Parenting the Older Child, by Trish Maskew

Adopting the Older Child, by Claudia Jewett

Parenting Your Adopted Older Child, by Benda McCreight, PhD.

 

Open Adoption (including videos--listed at the end):

Adoption: A Handful of Hope, by Suzanne Arms
An Open Adoption, by Lincoln Caplan
How to Open an Adoption: A Guide for Parents and Birthparents of Minors,  by Patricia Martinez Dorner
Openness in Adoption: Exploring Family Connections, by H D Grotevant and Ruth G McRoy
Adoption without Fear, edited by James. L. Gritter
The Spirit of Open Adoption, by James L Gritter
Open Adoption: A Caring Option, by Jean Warren Lindsay
The Open Adoption Book: A Guide to Adoption Without Tears, by Bruce Rappaport, Ph.D.

The Open Adoption Experience: A Complete Guide for Adoptive and Birth Families, by Sharon Kaplan Roszia and Lois Melina
A Letter to Adoptive Parents: on Open Adoption, by Randolph W. Severson
Dear Birthmother: Thank you for Our Baby, by Kathleen Silber and Phylis Speedlin
Children of Open Adoption, by Kathleen Silber and Patricia Martinez Dorner

The Psychology of Adoption, edited by David M.Brodzinsky and Marshall Schechter
Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self by David M.Brodzinsky and Marshall Schechter
I Wish for You a Beautiful Life: Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to Their Children, edited
by Sara Dorow
Shattered Dreams--Lonely Choices: Birthparents of Babies with Disabilities Talk about Adoption by Joanne Finnegan
Reunion: A Year in Letters Between a Birmother and the Daughter She Couldn't Keep by Katie Hern and Ellen McGarry Carolson
Perspectives on a Grafted Tree: Thoughts for Those Touched by Adoption edited by Patricia Irwin Johnston
Birthmothers: Women Who Have Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories by Merry Bloch Jones
Lost and Found: The Adoption Experience by Betty Jean Lifton
Out of the Shadows: Birthfathers' Stories by Mary Martin Mason.
An Adopted Woman by Katrina Maxtone-Graham
The Family of Adoption by Joyce Maguire Pavao
The Open Adoption Pocket Guide Book Series, Royal Oak, MI: R-Squared Press, 1999. A four booklet series, contains these individual elements: Your Rights and Responsibilities: A Guide for Expectant Parents Exploring Adoption by Brenda Romanchik. 21 page booklet. ISBN 0-9641035-0-8, $5.95. Birthparent Grief by Brenda Romanchik. 17 page booklet, ISBN 0-9641035-6-7, $5.95. Being a Birthparent: Finding Our Place by Brenda Romanchik. 17 page booklet, ISBN 0-9641035-9-1, $5.95. What Is Open Adoption? by Brenda Romanchik. 19 page booklet, ISBN 0-9641035-4-0, $5.95.
The Dark Side of Adoption by Marsha Riben
Searching for a Past: The Adopted Adult's Unique Process of Finding Identity by Jayne Schooler
Dear Birthfather by Randolph W. Severson, Ph.D.
The Adoption Life Cycle: The Children and their Families through the Years by Elinor B Rosenberg
The Adoption Triangle: The Effects of the Sealed Record on Adoptees, Birth Parents and Adoptive Parents by Arthur D.Sorosky, Annette Baran and Reuben Pannor
Giving Away Simone
by Jan Waldron

 

Videos (Openness in Adoption):

"Open Adoptions: The Experts Speak Out" from Children's Services Ctr. in Pacific Grove, CA features interviews with and conversations between Carol Bishop, Barb Tremitiere, Kathleen Silber, Sharon Kaplan, Patricia Martinez Dorner, Annette Baran, Jeanne Etter, Jim Gritter, Joyce Maguire Pavao and Carol Biddle.
"Our Child" from Hope Adoption Service in Canada follows one set of birthparents and one set of adoptive parents in their decision to plan an open adoption with one another.
"Starting New Families: Open and Independent

 

Race/Transracial Adoption:

Dim Sum, Bagels and Grits: A Sourcebook for Multicultural Families, by Myra Alperson

I Don’t Have Your Eyes, by Carrie Kitze

All Kinds of Children, by Norma Simon

The Family Book, by Todd Parr

It’s Okay to be Different, by Todd Parr

Does Anybody Else Look Like Me? A Parent’s Guide to Raising Multiracial Children, by Donna Jackson Nakazawa

Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Crib, by Jaiya John

Inside Transracial Adoption, by Gail Steinberg & Beth Hall

In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories, by Rita J. Simon & Rhonda M. Roorda

What Type of Child? Adopting and Advocating for the Special Needs Child, by L Anne Babb and Rita Laws

How to Adopt a Child from Another Country, by Eileen M Wirth and Joan Worden

"Where Do Black Kids Belong? The Politics of Race Matching in Adoption", by Elizabeth Bartholet

Gift Children: A Story of Race Family and Adoption in a Divided America, by J. Douglas Bates

A Passage to the Heart: Writings from Families with Children from China, edited by Amy Klatzkin

Transracial Adoption: Children and Parents Speak Out, by Constance Pohl and Kathy Harris
Are Those Kids Yours? American Families with Children Adopted from Other Countries, by Cheri Register
Inside Transracial Adoption, by Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall (
Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother, by Jana Wolff
 

Special-Needs & Older Children:
A Child's Journey through Placement, by Vera I. Fahlberg, M.D.
Self Awareness, Self-Selection, and Success: A Parent Preparation Guidebook for Special Needs Adoption, by Wilfred Hamm, T Morton and L Flynn
Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft, by Mary Hopkins-Best, Ed.D.
Adopting the Older Child, by Claudia Jarratt
Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss, by Claudia Jewett
Adopting the Hurt Child: Hope for Families with Special-Needs Kids, by Gregory Keck and Regina Kupecky
Forever Parents: Adopting Older Children, by James E Kloeppel and Darlene A Kloeppel
Don't Touch My Heart: Healing the Pain of the Unattached Child, by Lynda Gianforte Mansfield and Christopher H. Waldmann
With Eyes Wide Open: A Workbook for Parents Adopting International Children over Age One,
by Margie Miller and Nancy Ward for the Children's Home Society of Minnesota

  • Recommended Sites for Adoption Materials & Courses:

Tapestry Books for adoption materials: www.tapestrybooks.com

 

Adoption Learning Partners: www.adoptionlearningpartners.org

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