Rating: 
Summary: Adoption Nation
Review: Adoption Nation provides an interesting historical and sociological account of adoption. However, the author has a very clear bias and is not afraid to let it show throughout the book. He presents important facts, many of which I have not found in other books, however he does not fail to insert his own opinion about these facts in every place possible. If you agree with Mr. Pertman that absolutely open adoption is the only healthy alternative, international adoption is misguided, and that non-traditional families are morally incorrect when they wish to adopt healthy children (as Mr. Pertman and his wife did), then you will read this book without cringing. If, like me, you disagree with any of any of his very clear biases, then you will find his lack of journalistic objectivity disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Adoption Nation
Review: Adoption Nation provides an interesting historical and sociological account of adoption. However, the author has a very clear bias and is not afraid to let it show throughout the book. He presents important facts, many of which I have not found in other books, however he does not fail to insert his own opinion about these facts in every place possible. If you agree with Mr. Pertman that absolutely open adoption is the only healthy alternative, international adoption is misguided, and that non-traditional families are morally incorrect when they wish to adopt healthy children (as Mr. Pertman and his wife did), then you will read this book without cringing. If, like me, you disagree with any of any of his very clear biases, then you will find his lack of journalistic objectivity disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: How I wish...
Review: Adoption Nation were required reading for all "helping professionals". This book along with The Family of Adoption by Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao helps provide a truthful picture of the adoption world and the families who live within it.Mr. Pertman does not present adoption as the mythical state we think or wish it to be, but as a business that affects the lives of children who need parents. He conveys that though infertility brought the Pertmans to adoption, those of us with different circumstances embrace it for the same primal desire, we want to be parents. Adoption Nation reveals the need for reform in adoption practices worldwide,the need for a shift in our thinking about what makes a family, and the need to respect the children whose lives are involved. Now that we have Pertman's overview, perhaps Mr. Pertman could provide a more in depth look at the complex configurations of adoptive families and the collaborative work of triad members and supportive professionals toward the increasing openness he describes. How about it Mr. Pertman, Adoption Nation Volume II, A Closer Look?
Rating: 
Summary: Finally!
Review: After 27 years as a social worker involved in child placement I can firmly say that Adoption Nation is a book whose time has come, finally! This past year has seen major advances toward a more dignified adoption practice in the US. The rights of adult adoptees being slowly but increasingly written into law and acknowledged in the media. Adoption Nation helps to explain this process. It documents very well the painful history of adoption practice in the US. It is well written and for me was very exciting reading. This story had to be told! This book is must reading for anyone involved in the adoption process, birth parents, adoptive parents, and the adoptees they love. Anyone with adoption triad members involved in their lives should read this book. It will help them understand the basic human issues of adoption that this book addresses in very taseful stories throughout. This book should be REQUIRED reading for social workers and anyone else who is planning to work in child placement. It should be read BEFORE any damage is done with a poorly planned adoption. Finally, this book must be read by our legislators. If they read and understand it then all the adoption laws in the US will be changed within the year to return the fundamental right to a birth hertiage to all adult adoptees, a right which was removed slowly, state by state, over the past 50 years. With this book the reversal of that process will continue to gather speed! Thank you Adam Pertman! I hope to meet you someday and thank you in person.
Rating:
Summary: a book that dares to speak the truth about adoption
Review: As a former adoption professional, I picked up Adoption Nation expecting to glance through it -- but I ended up reading every page. Adam Pertman's book not only overflows with smart analysis, it's filled with compelling stories of adoptees, adoptive parents, and birthparents. Pertman dares to speak the truth and the whole truth about adoption. He doesn't shy away from honest assessment of touchy issues like race, money, and hypocrisy in the world of adoption, but he is equally articulate about the joy and connection of adoptive families. Adoption Nation manages to capture the complexity, tell amazing stories, and point us toward the future, all in one extremely readable book.
Rating:
Summary: a book that dares to speak the truth about adoption
Review: As a former adoption professional, I picked up Adoption Nation expecting to glance through it -- but I ended up reading every page. Adam Pertman's book not only overflows with smart analysis, it's filled with compelling stories of adoptees, adoptive parents, and birthparents. Pertman dares to speak the truth and the whole truth about adoption. He doesn't shy away from honest assessment of touchy issues like race, money, and hypocrisy in the world of adoption, but he is equally articulate about the joy and connection of adoptive families. Adoption Nation manages to capture the complexity, tell amazing stories, and point us toward the future, all in one extremely readable book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: As an adoptee who has searched for, found my birth family, and has had a positive reunion experience, I make it a point to read just about every book that comes out on the subject of adoption. "Adoption Nation" has some interesting information for prospective adoptive parents HOWEVER...I was shocked and disturbed by the authors reference to the fact that most adoptees adjust in today's society with few psychological repercussions. I have met and spoken with hundreds of adoptees over the past 15 years and most all of them have struggled with an identity crisis because they were lacking important historical and genetic information about themselves. Being adopted is a very unique and often confusing experience. Not knowing where you came from and why you were given up can profoundly affect all areas of development from infancy through adulthood. The authors' casual attitude about these issues is WAY off the mark. It seemed to me that they were writing this book for adoptive parents, all the while making it seem that once their child comes home everything for the MOST part will be fine and dandy. Perhaps they should have spent more time addressing the possible issues that the adopted child will have to face because ultimately it's the adoptive parents that will struggle along with the child when these issues to pop up. Irresponsible book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: As an adoptee who has searched for, found my birth family, and has had a positive reunion experience, I make it a point to read just about every book that comes out on the subject of adoption. "Adoption Nation" has some interesting information for prospective adoptive parents HOWEVER...I was shocked and disturbed by the authors reference to the fact that most adoptees adjust in today's society with few psychological repercussions. I have met and spoken with hundreds of adoptees over the past 15 years and most all of them have struggled with an identity crisis because they were lacking important historical and genetic information about themselves. Being adopted is a very unique and often confusing experience. Not knowing where you came from and why you were given up can profoundly affect all areas of development from infancy through adulthood. The authors' casual attitude about these issues is WAY off the mark. It seemed to me that they were writing this book for adoptive parents, all the while making it seem that once their child comes home everything for the MOST part will be fine and dandy. Perhaps they should have spent more time addressing the possible issues that the adopted child will have to face because ultimately it's the adoptive parents that will struggle along with the child when these issues to pop up. Irresponsible book.
Rating:
Summary: The most illuminating book about adoption that is out there
Review: As an adoptive parent, I loved this book. When I started to educate myself about adoption I soon became frustrated with the narrow perspective of most adoption books, a narrowness that I felt marginalized adoption itself. Pertman's book was what I had been looking for -- a book that looks at adoption through a multiplicity of perspectives, treating it as a subject of general, rather than special interest. Through reading it, I developed a greater understanding and compassion for what other adoptive parents, birth parents and adoptees think and feel as they participate in the adoption experience. My husband and I both read it, and I have recommended it to many friends. Pertman pleads for a compassionate and disinterested perspective on adoption. At once personal and political, this book thoughtfully engages a multitude of issues in adoption today - from legal changes towards greater openness, to the unspoken stories of birthparents, to recent developments in international adoption. It is comprehensive in its discussion of adoption's legacy of secrecy and shame, and how the lifting of this veil benefits every member of the adoptive triad. As a critical reader, I found Pertman's extensive research and engaging style lent credibility to his views. He writes passionately and compassionately about a subject close to his heart. I wish everyone involved in adoption would read this book so that they could benefit from it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: The most illuminating book about adoption that is out there
Review: As an adoptive parent, I loved this book. When I started to educate myself about adoption I soon became frustrated with the narrow perspective of most adoption books, a narrowness that I felt marginalized adoption itself. Pertman's book was what I had been looking for -- a book that looks at adoption through a multiplicity of perspectives, treating it as a subject of general, rather than special interest. Through reading it, I developed a greater understanding and compassion for what other adoptive parents, birth parents and adoptees think and feel as they participate in the adoption experience. My husband and I both read it, and I have recommended it to many friends. Pertman pleads for a compassionate and disinterested perspective on adoption. At once personal and political, this book thoughtfully engages a multitude of issues in adoption today - from legal changes towards greater openness, to the unspoken stories of birthparents, to recent developments in international adoption. It is comprehensive in its discussion of adoption's legacy of secrecy and shame, and how the lifting of this veil benefits every member of the adoptive triad. As a critical reader, I found Pertman's extensive research and engaging style lent credibility to his views. He writes passionately and compassionately about a subject close to his heart. I wish everyone involved in adoption would read this book so that they could benefit from it as much as I did.
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