Adam Pertman

A couple of years ago, I shared the keynote speaker podium at an adoption conference with Adam Pertman, author of Adoption Nation and executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

When I was researching my book, The Adoption Decision: 15 Things You Want to Know Before Adopting, Adam’s book — and the Adoption Institute — were essential resources.  Adam is one of the world’s top researchers in the field of adoption. He’s my adoption hero. So you can imagine that I was more than a little intimidated to be a co-keynoter with him.

I needn’t have worried. As we became acquainted during the conference, I discovered that Adam’s passion for educating people about adoption mirrors my own, and that for both of us, our role as (adoptive) parents is the most important one in our lives.

So it is with delight that I announce the new, revised edition of Adam’s book, Adoption Nation. Whether you’re just beginning to think about adoption or adoption has been part of your life for years, Adoption Nation deserves a permanent spot in your library of adoption resources.

Here’s the official blurb:

Americans adopt more than 130,000 children annually from within the United States and from abroad. That means more than 100 million people in our country today have adoption in their immediate families – and nearly everyone is connected to adoption in some way.

Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming Our Families – and America takes on the challenge of explaining the historic changes enveloping us all – and does so with a unique combination of engaging prose, gripping stories, insightful perspective and exceptional research.

Its author, Adam Pertman, is one of the most influential experts in his field and Adoption Nation has been called “the most important book ever written on the subject.” Inspired by his Pulitzer-nominated series while a reporter with the Boston Globe, the first edition of Adoption Nation (2000) captured an important piece of U.S. history and was a game-changer for child welfare professionals, policy-makers, and members of what Pertman calls “the extended family of adoption” (adopted individuals, birth and adoptive relatives).

The new, fully revised edition updates the “adoption revolution” with all of its joys and disappointments, its personal and policy issues, its complexities and controversies.

The publisher of my book, The Adoption Network: Your Guide to Starting a Support System, does such a nice job with their marketing materials.

Here’s my page in the catalog WinePress Publishing is preparing for distribution at next weekend’s Northwest Ministry Conference in Seattle:

The conference — which is one of the largest ministry conferences in the country — is April 8 and 9, 2011 at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, WA.

I’ll be doing a book signing and giving away copies of The Adoption Network (details about time and location to be announced next week on my blog), and I’ll be helping out at the WinePress booth throughout the conference. Hope to see you there!

I have limited 2-packs of my books, The Adoption Decision and The Adoption Network available for $15 (this price includes U.S. shipping).

This is a 30 percent discount off the lowest price Amazon is offering, plus your books will be autographed by the author (me). You can’t get that from Amazon!

If you’re interested in ordering, just e-mail me and I’ll send you details about how to pay via PayPal or personal check.

ABC launched new reality show called “Find My Family” Monday. Did you catch it?

I didn’t; I was out. From the previews, it appears to be a tug-your-heartstrings show about people in closed adoptions who are searching for (and finding) their birth parents.

I remember a few years ago when one of the networks tried to launch a similar show called “Who’s Your Daddy?” It lasted all of one episode.

I’d be interested to hear what you think of this new show. I’m happy to see that the hosts, Lisa Joyner and Tim Green, were both adopted. Lisa is also an adoptive mom, and this gives me hope that they will use respectful adoption language and treat the families who guest on the show with sensitivity.

I’m also glad that ABC is assisting adults in closed adoptions to find members of their birth family. Too many people have grieved for years because of the secrecy that surrounds closed adoption. Of course, finding one’s birth relatives opens up a whole new can of worms… but reality TV thrives on drama!

I’m a bit bothered by the show’s title — find my family could be construed as a slam on adoptive parents. Are the people who do the parenting part of the equation in this show? Just curious.

Please share your thoughts if you saw the first episode.

You can view the first full episode.

If you’re itching to learn more about adoption, here’s an informative post that showcases 12 adoption-themed books.

You’ll find fiction, non-fiction, pre- and post-adoption, as well as books for birth parents and adopted people.

WinePress is a Christian publishing company, so I assume all 12 books are written from a Christian worldview.

David Sanford, general editor of the anthology, Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family, e-mailed me a review of the book, published on Examiner.com. David knew I’d be interested, since I wrote the chapter on post-adoption support.

Reviewer Gail Welborn explains that the book’s 17 chapters cover topics such as attachment and bonding issues, sibling and extended family relationships, and past abuse issues. The information equips parents to nurture and discipline, and teaches how to develop and build solid families and support networks.

She writes:

Washington adoption specialist, Laura Christianson, writes about and speaks on adoption-related issues. She encourages adoptive parents “to fulfill the law of Christ and carry one another’s burdens:” (Galatians 6:2).

In the chapter on “Developing a Support Network,” she writes that adoptive parents need the “emotional and spiritual support” found in such groups. Groups provide necessary tools, resources, knowledge and encouragement to persevere and maintain parental commitment, nourish children and accept sometimes overwhelming challenges of an adopted family.

To read the complete review, visit Examiner.com.

Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family, Tyndale House
Publishers, Focus on the Family Resource, General Editors, David and
Renee Sanford, 2008, 288 Pages, ISBN-13: 978-1589973381, $14.99

Several of my Twitter "tweeps" alerted me to a new slasher movie that's being released by Warner Brothers Pictures July 24. In Orphan, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) decide to adopt an older child from a local orphanage. 

They meet with the orphanage director, who warns them, "Adopting an older child is not an easy decision."

Almost as soon as they welcome Esther (Isabelle Fuhrmann) into their home, an alarming series of events begins to unfold, leading Kate to believe that there's something wrong with Esther–this seemingly angelic little girl is not what she appears to be.

In a movie trailer strongly reminiscent of the 1976 horror flick, Carrie, we learn that Esther was in a mental hospital before being adopted, and that the orphanage has never heard of her.

During one scene in the trailer, Esther states, ""It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own."

Sigh. 

My own (adopted) children are axe murderers — aren't yours? All adopted children have something wrong with them, just by virtue of being adopted. Right?

Apparently, the misguided Hollywood screenwriters think so. And they see an adoption-themed horror movie as the perfect means to play on the public's fears about adopted children… and make millions in the process.

In a blog post by Cathy Doheny at CharolotteExaminer.com, she suggests that people in the adoption community boycott the movie (which is Rated R, so who'd bring their kids to it, anyway?); tell others to boycott the movie, post warnings about the movie on adoption forums; and petition Warner Brothers to change the negative adoption lingo.

She also recommends preparing school-aged adopted children about the movie, so they'll have ways to cope with the misconceptions about adoption suggested by this movie.

Cathy also says:

Contact the distributors (Warner Brothers), the producer (Dark Castle Entertainment), and the developer of the
material (Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, who is also co-producing the
film) and express your concern about the negative impact of the film on
the cause of adoption.

Apparently, Warner Brothers responded to angry e-mails, saying:

We "would like to inform you that we are changing the marketing materials related to this film on a forward-going basis.

"The Orphan" is a work of fiction, and we apologize if we appeared
insensitive in advertising the film, as it's never our intent to offend
anyone with our products."

No changes have been made to the trailer, however.

The adoption community is continuing to put pressure on Warner Brothers, and the movement has gone viral, with a new Facebook group, I am Boycotting Warner Bros.' "Orphan" Movie.

As of this moment in time, the group has 906 members (including me). Won't you consider joining us?

It's always a challenge to find a good list of books on infertility, so I felt I'd hit the jackpot when Tina Smith from the Fertility Center in Chattanooga, TN referred me to their site:

• MyFertilityCenter.com

The Support Central area provides a huge list of infertility books, Web site links, and articles.

Thanks, Tina, for sharing this site loaded with helpful resources!

Adoptive dad Gary Morgenstein alerted me to his new novel, Jesse's Girl. The story is about a widowed father’s search for his troubled teen, who has run away from a wilderness treatment program.

Gary writes:

Gary’s previous novels are Take Me Out to the Ballgame and The Man Who Wanted to Play Center Field for the New York Yankees. His latest novel, Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman, a romantic triangle about a divorced middle-aged man who falls in love with a beautiful rabbi, was just published on Amazon.com. His play, Ponzi Man, played to sell-out crowds at a recent New York Fringe Festival.

*Note from Laura – I have not yet read Gary's novel, so this announcement is merely that: an announcement that I thought would interest those who like to read adoption-themed novels. Enjoy!

I was pleasantly surprised to open my mail today and discover a hardback copy of my book, The Adoption Decision: 15 Things You Want to Know Before Adopting.

Up until now, The Adoption Decision has been available only in paperback. The hardback is the new Crossings Book Club Edition.

Here's the cool thing:

You can buy my book through Crossings for only 20 cents when you join the club! That's right — I said twenty CENTS (the book retails for $13.99).

So, what's the catch? I investigated the membership terms, and here's the deal:

When you join Crossings, you get five books for 99 cents (plus shipping and handling and applicable taxes).

The fine print says that you agree to buy 4 books at regular Club prices in the next 2 years. You can make your first Club purchase for $5.99 (plus shipping
and handling and applicable taxes), which means you'll only have to buy 3 books in the next 2 years.

I've been a member of various book clubs on and off for years, and I know that they constantly run special promos on books, so you do end up saving money, especially if you purchase only the required four books and then cancel your membership (shhhh… don't tell them I said that).

The nice thing about Crossings is that they do NOT automatically send you the book of the month. You'll get a catalog every 3 weeks, but you only order books when YOU want. I like that.

I checked out the shipping and handling charges, and for the introductory offer, you pay $5.74 for the first book and $1.99 for each additional book plus sales tax where applicable.

Soooo…. you're looking at a grand total of $22.67 (plus sales tax where applicable) for six hardback books. That's $3.78 per book, including shipping. Not bad at all. Really good, in fact!

They also note that you can return your Introductory Package within 20 days of receipt at their expense.

Here's a suggestion:

If you want to read The Adoption Decision with your adoption support group or book club (I included study questions for each chapter at the end of the book), join Crossings and order six copies of The Adoption Decision!  Now, that's a good deal.