I have been thinking about adding an “Books about Adoption List” for some time. I know there are probably better book widget’s to add in the sidebar, but sinc they have such a huge selection of unsugar coated adoption books, Amazon will work fine for now.

In a perfect world, I would have read every single adoption book on my list and only put up the ones that I could totally recommend, but a) I don’t have the time to read them all even if I would like to, and b) I don’t own all of them and probably wil not anytime soon. So if you happen to see a book on my list and think it is best left on the shelf, please tell me why I would be horrified associating with such drivel so I don’t embrasses myself. I confess I did judge some books by their covers.

As I am adding to the collection of adoption books, looking for both classic must haves and newer personal memoirs, I come across a bit that, well, gets my gag reflex going:

Affirming the Birth Mother’s Journey: A Peer Counselor’s Guide to Adoption Counseling

Now, I don’t know about you, but already the whole “affirming” word choice is getting my feathers ruffled. I mean, just what birth mothers need; more people telling us that we did a brave positive thing. And then I look down at the description:

Counselors who deal with women in crisis pregnancies are frequently hindered by fear, negative preconceptions, and ignorance regarding one of the positive, life-affirming options available to women: adoption. Many counselors are unaware of the wide array of choices now available to clients seeking to place. Sadly, the failure to inform a woman about her alternativesƒincluding the possibility of placing in an open adoptionƒcan prove detrimental to both mother
and child.

Recognizing the needs of its clients, the Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre has embraced the adoption option. In addition to addressing volunteers’ fears and equipping them to present the alternative in a positive, non-threatening manner, the Centre (based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) provides clients with ongoing support. The results have been striking: whereas the American adoption rate is one percent and the Canadian rate is two percent, Alberta’s rate is four percent.

The Centre itself has seen years in which up to ten percent of clients carrying to term have placed. Taken from the birth mother’s perspective, and written for counselors, this book explains how Pregnancy Centers can support clients through the complex adoption and grief process. Its aim is to help counselors present the adoption option; enable clients to choose adoptive parents and nurture long-term relationships; support women through the grief process; run a successful birth mothers’ support group; and contend with other pertinent issues. Included are extensive interviews with birth mothers and other members of the adoption constellation.

Open adoption is a positive option. We have walked with birth mothers through decision-making, grief, and joy. We have seen their children thrive in relationships with both the biological and adoptive families. We have watched adoptive couples become advocates for open adoption. Our hope now is to equip other Centers to give clients this life-changing opportunity.

Yeah, sounds like they took the National Council for Adoption’s horribly coersive BirthMother,
GoodMother to heart! shudder…

Anyway, this bit of drivel is brand new and right now only available on Kindle. I don’t have a Kindle, so I could not take advantage of the free sample even if actually I wanted to take up vomiting and purging this evening. Hence, here’s lies the delimma: I am so dying to read it, even if I know what it’s all about. I mean, they have listed the Family Research Council in their tags!! But, I do not want to give them my 22 bucks for this junk.

Yuck. I’m just going to go back and list my adoption books.