Rating: 
Summary: Savage's Best Yet
Review: Dan Savage has always been witty and funny but this book showcases a more mature and candid Savage. Not only does he reveal much about his personal life but he does so in an extremely entertaining way. For me, part of the charm of this book was its frank, honest, autobiographical nature.I'm not the sort of person who laughs out loud while reading. The Kid, however, made me do just that. Over and over. Savage draws you in and then you can't put it down. There's intimacy, drama, suspense and lots of humor. There's also a lot of honest, valuable information for anyone considering adoption or even anyone who wants to better understand the inner workings of gay life and relationships. It's likely the few negative reviews here were posted by those who don't believe gay couples should raise children. Most of their comments just don't make sense in the context of the book. I doubt they even read it. Unless you share their beliefs, it's extremely likely you'll find this an enjoyable read. I hope there's a sequel but I'll be buying Savage's next book regardless of the subect matter. His writing just keeps getting better.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I found this book enjoyably light for such a heavy subject.
Rating: 
Summary: In need of a good editor!
Review: Although interesting, and at times rather funny, this book needed a good editor. The writing is repetitive, and several parts of the book could have been cut without any loss to the overall book. In fact, clipping some stuff would have made this book a much better one.
Rating:
Summary: Pregnant with Possibilities
Review: This is a book which should be read by anyone considering adoption. Dan Savage tells the amazing story of the journey he and his boyfriend took to adopt a child. With humor and insight he documents the fears and insecurities that surface during the adoption process. He also provides a window into the lives of all of those involved, including the mother of the child to be adopted. His story proves that the desire to take on the responsibilities of raising a child is more important in the adoption process than whether or not the adoptive parents are heterosexual.
Rating:
Summary: a good read, getting"pregnant" or not
Review: I thought this book was great due to the language of the writer. savage is blunt honest and real, like someone telling the story to your face. WARNING it's hard to put it down until you're through.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Dan Savage is, as ALWAYS, wonderful to read. It was particularly interesting since we have adopted as a "straight" couple, and although you'd think our stories and the things that go through your head would be vastly different, they're really not! You ended up believing in the world and the people around you and wishing there were more like Dan in the world.
Rating:
Summary: A great read. . . .
Review: Dan Savage's book on becoming a parent is a refreshing antidote to all those holier than thou parenting tomes that make having a family sound at best boring, at worst torture. Savage shows that cynical, messy, urbane folks (be they gay or straight) have plenty of love to offer and can be great parents.
Rating:
Summary: Subtitle: How my boyfriend and I get what WE want! Tee hee!
Review: This book is both funny and honest, and I must say, I am a sucker for funny and honest. The story here is compelling: outcast gay dads adopt baby from outcast street urchin, and everybody walks away more or less happy. Right? But this book is also a treatise, promoting a definition of "family" that includes any self-defined combination of adults and children. And yes, I know there are many incompetent straight parents, and many loving gay individuals who could be parents. Oh, and I know that gay men are no more likely than straight men to be pedophiles. But a baby is a baby, and it deserves the best chance it can get. Adoption agencies bend over backwards to place babies in unstable situations, so as not to offend anybody. Even single people can get a baby if they try hard enough, so gay couples should take it as no compliment that they too can adopt. The attitude is "your choices are as good as my choices", so anything goes. Does anybody notice that this is all about ADULTS demanding what THEY want... not what their kids might NEED??? In one disturbing section, Savage is bemused over a class dealing with the "grief" phase most adoptive couples go through following the realization that they can't have a baby. Since he and his boyfriend knew all along there was no biological route that would bring them children, Savage suggests that a class on grieving is evidence of straight bias. Sure, us "breeders" take our fertility for granted sometimes. But there's a big difference between an infertile straight couple and an "infertile" gay couple. Savage believes he has the right to swoop into the procreative world -- condescending to attend a few breeder-biased classes -- pick a baby, and swoop back out again. I shudder to think that a man who's "infertile by choice" has the right to adopt a baby that could have gone to a married couple with no other way to reproduce. And yes, I did say married couple. The permanence thing really does matter when you're talking about raising kids; "committed" relationships just don't do it. Savage's boyfriend sounds like a brat; immature and self-centred. Sure, he loves the baby, but his absorption doesn't extend to the rest of the little family Savage would like to pretend they've just created. I do know that many straight couples break up and many gay couples stay together forever. It's not PC to point out that the straight couple still has the better odds, but there you go. Sure, 50% of marriages end in divorce, but for first marriages, the odds are more like 67% (down only 3% from the early 1900's). Straight couples stay married. Gay couples rarely stay together. It may be a stereotype, but it's also true. So what's my final take on this book? Is having "two gay dads" going to harm a baby? Savage certainly sounds like any loving dad. But are gay parents able to give a child everything a straight (married) couple could? He hasn't convinced me, despite some genuinely touching moments. I had to chuckle when, nerves on edge, Savage attacks a cafeteria cashier for selling bagels of many foreign varieties, including bacon bagels, which he ironically notes "observant Jews couldn't even eat." His honesty was touching; we're all a little crazy sometimes. Full of personal insights like this, Savage's book is an excellent chronicle of the adoption process, both the technicalities and the emotions involved. And he really does prove that the emotions are probably the same the world over, regardless of sexual orientation. Gay couples feel the same things as straight couples when it comes to adoption. But it's not about feelings, and it's not about how he and his boyfriend happen to feel, or what they WANT. The only person who really matters is the baby, and Savage's fluffy "but I waaaaant one!" take on childbearing is, in the end, more than a little tough to swallow.
Rating:
Summary: Down to Earth Adoption
Review: My wife & I both read this book in preparation for adopting a child. We found it to be the best book we read on adoption -- it covered many of the major issues with humor and thoughtfulness. We were prepared for all of the paperwork & challenges after reading this book. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and heartfelt
Review: One of the very best books I've read over the past year. Dan Savage has written a very funny memoir of the trials and tribulations of adopting a child. Always witty,and yet also heartwrenching. Savage manages to touch so many issues that confront Gay men and women, not just parenting issues. I'm recommending this title to everyone I know.
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