Adoption Motherhood

When Deb Moerke and her husband decided to become foster parents, they never imagined how their lives would change. And never did they imagine their worst nightmare coming true: Their five-year-old foster daughter, Hannah, murdered at the hands of her birth mom, Karen. The Moerkes were overwhelmed with horror and grief. And just when they didn’t think they could bear any more, Deb received a phone call from Karen in prison. Facing a life sentence for Hannah’s murder, she was pregnant. And Karen had an incredible request: Would Deb take her unborn baby and love it as her own?

The moment Diane Burke, an author and mother of two grown sons, received an unexpected certified letter in the mail, she had no idea her life would be shaken to its core. Memories of a past she had buried more than forty years ago suddenly resurfaced and she wasn't prepared to deal with them. Steve Orlandi, happily married, father of two and step-father of three, was living the typical middle class American life. But since the age of eight, when he discovered he was adopted, he had led that life dealing with inner questions about his self-identity and genetic history.

A powerful decade-long study of adoption in the age of Roe, revealing the grief of the American mothers for whom the choice to parent was never real.

Have you ever been told to “Just Have Sex" [and you'll get pregnant]? Yeah, me too. That doesn't always work. Read this encouraging and captivating memoir that illuminates the trials, emotions, and hidden struggles of infertility diagnosis and treatment Ashley was living her life's dream: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a newly minted CPA, and creating a new life and name for herself since coming back home from college. Fate had always been good to her... until it wasn't. Month after month, she stared at her negative pregnancy tests and wondered why she wasn't getting ...

Determined to be a better mother than her own, Hannah has devoted her life to her daughters. She ignores her increasing exhaustion and isolation as a widowed mom—until a disastrous mistake lands the girls in foster care. Julie is single and lonely and dreams of being a mother. After infertility issues lead her to foster parenting, she falls head over heels for Hannah’s daughters. The more she bonds with these sweet, precocious girls, the more she worries about their previous home life and becomes intent on finding a way to keep them.

If you are considering adoption or foster care or are already somewhere in this difficult and complicated process, you need trusted information from people who have been where you are. Mike and Kristin Berry have adopted eight children and cared for another 23 kids in their nine-year stint as foster parents. They aren't just experts. They have experienced every emotional high and low and encountered virtually every situation imaginable as parents. Now, they want to share what they've learned with you.

Meredith Hall's moving but unsentimental memoir begins in 1965, when she becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community, she is then kicked out of the house by her mother. Her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East, where she survives by selling her possessions and finally her blood.

The story of Kathleen's escape from incarceration in an institution for "fallen women." In 1974, the shadows of the Magdalene laundry still haunt Kathleen as she daringly escapes from a life of oppression. Now on the run, the priest is hot on her trail. As the priest's attention shifts to other lost souls, the consequences are nothing short of devastating. Meanwhile, a famous American actress and her wealthy husband have arrived in Ireland to adopt a baby and discover an unexpected offer they cannot refuse. Will it turn out to be a dream come true or a nightmare waiting to unfold? Enter the...

Every choice you make carries a consequence. What if your consequence was an unwanted pregnancy? Theresa graciously agrees to share part of her life for a biographical paper being written by two high school students. She surprises her unsuspecting interviewers with stories of a broken childhood, tales of love found and lost, and the strength summoned to make the hardest decision of her life.

Motherhood So White is the story of Nefertiti's fight to create the family she always knew she was meant to have and the story of motherhood that all American families need now. In this unflinching account of her parenting journey, Nefertiti examines the history of adoption in the African American community, faces off against stereotypes of single, Black motherhood, and confronts the reality of raising children of color in racially charged, modern-day America.

When Rain Hurts is the story of one mother’s quest to find a magical path of healing and forgiveness for her son, a boy so damaged by the double whammy of prenatal alcohol abuse and the stark rigors of Russian orphanage life that he was feral by the time of his adoption at age three. Bizarre behaviors, irrational thoughts, and dangerous preoccupations were the norm - no amount of love, it turns out, can untangle the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome.

A historical fiction book set in Garrison City, a small cattle town in the American West during the late 19th century. In "Son of an Outlaw," the story unfolds in the rugged heart of the American West, where the past casts long shadows over the present. Isabella Beaumont, a fierce and compassionate woman, raises the infant son of the notorious outlaw Black Henry Grady after she witnesses his dramatic demise. As the years go by, Isabella strives to shield Oliver from the grip of his father's criminal legacy, but as he nears his twenty-fifth birthday, the chains of history tighten, forcing ...

A searching, eloquent memoir about the joys and hardships of open adoption. God and Jetfire is a mother's account of her decision to surrender her son in an open adoption and of their relationship over the twelve years that follow. Facing an unplanned pregnancy at twenty-two, Amy Seek and her ex-boyfriend begin an exhaustive search for a family to raise their child. They sift through hundreds of "Dear Birth Mother" letters, craft an extensive questionnaire, and interview numerous potential couples.

Adoption is an act of pure love. The consequences of the act reach far and wide and affect millions of children and adults around the world. Today there is a move towards an open communication between all parties but it was not always so. Before Roe vs. Wade, the entire process of adoption was shrouded in secrecy and in many cases, lies, fear, guilt, coercion, shame and blame were the forces in play for the participants. Learning at a young age about this thing called "adoption," Mr. Bannon spent his life wondering, confused, curious and a little afraid of what might be out there if he ...

For Emilia Greenleaf, life is by turns a comedy of errors and an emotional minefield. Yes, she's a Harvard Law grad who married her soul mate. Yes, they live in elegant comfort on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But with her one-and-only, Jack, came a stepson, a know-it-all preschooler named William who has become her number one responsibility every Wednesday afternoon.

FROM THE AMAZON UK NUMBER ONE BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF A CHRISTMAS MURDER Hidden Chapters is an emotionally gripping story of family secrets and unearthing the past. Catrin, a devoted mother struggling to keep her marriage alive, is blindsided by the appearance of her daughter's birth mother, Elizabeth. Catrin must confront her own lies and secrets from the past, while struggling to accept the truth about her beloved 'golden brother' and alcoholic mother. Set on the picturesque Welsh Gower Peninsula, where Worm’s Head is a tidal island off Rhossili Bay, Mary Grand's writing is beautifully ...

Author and Instagram star Heather Avis has made it her mission to introduce the world to the unique gifts and real-life challenges of those who have been pushed to the edges of society. Mama to three adopted kids - two with Down Syndrome - Heather encourages us all to take a breath, whisper a prayer, laugh a little, and make room for the wildflowers.

Single mom Bethany Morris loves her 6-year-old foster daughter, Willow, as if she were her own. When Willow’s real mother is released early from prison, Bethany isn’t ready to let the little girl go. Trying to justify her reluctance to say good-bye, she digs into the mother’s shady past and struggles to deal with what she finds out. Across the state line, Willow’s half-sister lives with her dad, Conner Walker, a man who never stays in one place for too long. When he returns to the town where he grew up, he realizes he’s been cheating his daughter out of a place to call home. For ...

Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. Wellington's timely–and deeply researched–account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.

A thrilling story about sisterhood, secrets, love and murder by Sally Hepworth, the New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate and The Mother-in-Law. It’s not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows. For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they...