Rating: 
Summary: A must read!
Review: Pertman makes a compelling case for breaking the seal of closed adoption records. By presenting important, relative, fact and data and poignant personal stories, he lays out the foundation for how adoption is transforming the family, and why adult adoptees should have the right to their roots. Anyone connected with adoption and/or adoption reform (e.g., legislators and professionals, especially lawyers, teachers, and therapists), will be enlightened by reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: More of a personal rant than a sociological perspective
Review: The major themes of this book are pretty easy to summarize: adoption is too expensive, there's lots of room for corruption, adoptions should be open and there should be ongoing contact with the birthparents. And those themes are repeated over and over and over and over. In fact, every chapter of this book covers pretty much the same ground, in just a slightly different presentation. I kept reading hoping for what was promised in reviews and on the book cover -- an indepth exploration of how adoption is changing our society. While the book does point out that adoption creates many nontraditional families (i.e., gay/lesbian, single parent, and multiethnic), repeating that point over and over doesn't amount to "indepth exploration."The book also contains a few too many horror stories of the things that can go wrong and the way the system can be abused. Yes, there are unscrupulous people in the adoption realm (just as there are in any area of life) and prospective adoptive and birth parents need to carefully evaluate the people they choose to work with, but there are plenty of ethical agencies, attorneys, facilitators, and others in the adoption world that do work for the best interests of everyone involved and that don't deserve to be painted with the same brush as the unscrupulous folks. (One wonders whether as a journalist, Pertman would like to be judged by the likes of the National Enquirer and Geraldo Rivera.) Bottom line: Don't buy the book. Go to the bookstore, read the first chapter, and skim the rest. You'll get about the same benefit.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This book does several things well--expose the part of adoption that no one wants to talk about (money and corruption). It is unfortunate that this happens. It is equally unfortunate, as Pertman aptly discusses, that for many years adoption has been a "shameful" thing and a hidden thing, when truly it should be open and celebrated. Where I feel the book is lacking is that (except in a couple of instances) throughout the book, adoption is presented as a definite negative for the birthmother, something that might be OK for the baby, and definitely benefits the adoptive parents. This is the only problem I had with the book--he doesn't advocate for adoptive parents at all, and like it or not, some kids--BOTH domestically and abroad--are going to be better off with adoptive parents, and they should be allowed to be adopted. While I like that the author is in favor of adoption reform, I don't think he really covers how hard it is to be on the other side of the table. Being the adoptive parent can be as hard emotionally (to be sure, in different ways) than being the birth parent. Other than that, I loved the book, and wish more people would read it.
Rating:
Summary: Give this book to friends and family!
Review: This book is a terrific overview of adoption yesterday and today. The message is of need for change. but it is an optimistic message, and lays the burden of responsibility for adoption reform directly on all those touched by adoption. Speak up, says Adam Pertman, contact legislators,get educated, find like-minded people and put the welfare of the child at the center of everything we do. Mr. Pertman is a relative newcomer to adoption, compared to many others who have worked for so many years to educate, reform adoption practice and help triad members. Having heard him speak, however,and seeing his serious commitment to adoption reform and his study of and dedication to this complex field, I am convinced that his voice will continue to be heard in the future and that what he writes and says will continue to be helpful, valuable and influential. Books like Adoption Nation go a long way toward increasing public understanding of adoption. Give this book to as many people as you can!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST HAVE FOR CLINICIANS, EDUCATORS AND PARENTS!
Review: This is a "must have" for anyone whose life has been touched by adoption. It is well-written and provides current, useful information about both domestic and international adoption. As an adoptive parent, I found the book to be a wonderful resource in terms of thinking about what the future holds for my family. As a professional in the field, I also found the text to be insightful, holding thought-provoking answers to questions that are often discussed in adoption circles -- openness in adoption, the role of the internet, birthparent concerns, etc. This book has a permanent spot in my bookshelf!
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, informative but prejudiced
Review: This is an exciting and informative roller coaster of the history of adoption. The book ranges from the history of and regrettable reasons for secret adoptions, to the explosion of openness beginning in the 1970's with its empowerment of birthmothers and the selling of babies by private agencies and on the Internet. The reader is offered the conflicting anecdotal records of openness, of the issue of opening up past secret adoption records, of reunions between parties of closed adoptions, and of keeping all future adoptions open. But Adoption Nation is prejudiced toward open adoption and leaves out the conclusion of the largest longitudinal study published in 1998 by Harold D.Grotevant and Ruth G. McRoy, Openness in Adoption, Exploring Family Connections (Sage 1998). These authors state: 'The clearest policy implication of our work is that no single type of adoption is best for everyone. Thus, we believe that a variety of adoption arrangements should be possible by practice and by law.' These authors warn that the long-term impact of openness for all parties in the adoptive kinship network is not known and longitudinal research is necessary to answer this question. The authors found in an earlier smaller study that semi-open adoption seemed to be the least harmful to the families involved in adoption. Literature tells us that we continue today, in both public and private adoptions, not to focus on what placement might be the best for the child, but on what is best for the families, agencies or adoption professionals. We think that if the adoptive and birth parents get on well, then open adoption is good for the child too for all ages, and for all developmental stages. But is it? One thing seems certain from Adoption Nation: Secrecy in adoption is a thing of the past. I am an adoptive mother of a secret adoption in 1969 and I was always opposed to secrecy. Fortunately, we met our birthmother 29 years later and love her and her family. Based on what she says today about openness, the golden mean of semi-open adoption would have been the best for her. Surprisingly, our daughter would once more have wished for a closed adoption. We need to find out what the children of open adoption are thinking as adults about their experience.
Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, author of ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?
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