Rating: 
Summary: Could be Titled, "All About ME"
Review: This book infuriated me. It is nauseatingly self-focused in a way that places the author at the center of the universe in every scene. Unfortunately, the author isn't half as interesting as the child she is adopting. Newman has no respect for her son's culture and makes no bones about it. She hates Russia and its people, and sees the child they are offering her as already hers. She also seems to care very little about any of the other children in the orphanage. It is all HER son, HER marriage, HER infertility, HER adoption. Gag. When it reached its syrupy ending, I wanted to throw the book at the wall. I suppose it didn't help that I read it while in another country adopting a toddler under circumstances that were much more trying than anything the author went through. Sorry, but the attitudes of this author really rattled my cage.
Rating: 
Summary: A harrowing story with a happy ending
Review: This book wants to make me jump into a plane and bring home one of the thousands of children in Russia who need a family. Even though we now know that the author has successfully adopted her son, it is impossible not to feel overwhelmed by her and her husband's traumatic (and I'm sure very costly) efforts to get past unhelpful and corrupt adoption personnel operating in a country thrown into political chaos. The Newman's story also conveys an interesting and all-too-human point: Once one falls in love with a particular child (even if only seen on a photograph!) one wants that child and no other. But I'm glad the Newmans didn't give into their despair and kidnap the baby and transport him home through Finland! I hope they will banish from their minds the heartbreaking weeks trying to claim their son and rejoice around the clock in their great fortune.
Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, author of ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?
Rating:
Summary: A harrowing story with a happy ending
Review: This book wants to make me jump into a plane and bring home one of the thousands of children in Russia who need a family. Even though we now know that the author has successfully adopted her son, it is impossible not to feel overwhelmed by her and her husband's traumatic (and I'm sure very costly) efforts to get past unhelpful and corrupt adoption personnel operating in a country thrown into political chaos. The Newman's story also conveys an interesting and all-too-human point: Once one falls in love with a particular child (even if only seen on a photograph!) one wants that child and no other. But I'm glad the Newmans didn't give into their despair and kidnap the baby and transport him home through Finland! I hope they will banish from their minds the heartbreaking weeks trying to claim their son and rejoice around the clock in their great fortune.
Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, author of ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?
Rating: 
Summary: Russian Adoption Needn't be such a Travail
Review: This is a beautifully written book about a family's journey to grow their family through Russian adoption. It speaks well to the emotional commitment waiting parents make to children they have never met. However, as a fellow adoptive parent of a child from Russia, I found that my adoption agency was tremendously more experienced and capable of providing expertise, support and a smooth adoption experience. If you are considering adoption, please do more homework than this family did, and connect with an agency who can provide dramatically more expertise and support than this family's did. My only concern about the book was that this family's low-functioning agency would be perceived as typical and might keep others from traveling this path to parenthood or growing your family.
Rating:
Summary: One couple's experience with foreign adoption
Review: This is an excellent story about Russian adoption- the trials and triumphs of one couple and their little boy. While the Newmans' struggles are accurate, all Russian adoptions do not proceed in this manner; good, organized agencies in the U.S. have support staff in place in Russia, and American couples who use them have less trouble with paperwork. An accredited agency is the way to go. This said, the orphanage conditions and SOME of the Russians' attitudes are portrayed correctly. This is a good book to read for an idea of what takes place in foreign adoption-just remember that each couple has a different experience.
Rating:
Summary: A Mother's Story
Review: This is as much a story about becoming a parent, as much as it is "An Adoption Story." The author captures the unexpectedly intense joys and fears of parenting in the humorous and heart wrenching tale of her journey toward becoming a mother. Her story is compelling enough to make this a page-turner.
Rating: 
Summary: "Hey Buddy, wanna buy a baby??"
Review: This woman is fortunately a much better writer than she is an 'adopter'. She did absolutely no research before getting involved in something as important and complex as an adoption, and paid the price for it. She then felt like she should write a book about adoption?
I'm sure there are as many heartwarming stories about adoption from families who have gone aboout the process with a little more research and thought who have better tales to tell. If the author would have done her research, she probably would not have had to spend so much time in Russia, and would not have become so bitter towards the people she encountered.
Hopefully this family is doing well, and one little boy is probably much better off now than he would have been, that is the good news. If a how to book is what you're looking for, this is a lousy 'how-to' book. A pre-adoptive father who did his research- in Michigan
Rating:
Summary: Naive and insensitive: A case study of what not to do...
Review: Unfortunately, I am forced to agree with the not-so-complimentary reviews this book has produced so far. This couple's lack of preparation and research about the multitude of issues involved with international adoption, and their "ugly-American" approach to dealing with their Russian facilitators is largely to blame for their difficult experiences. There are four things that shocked me about their approach. First, they did not appear to research the background of their facilitator, nor have any idea that an experienced, ethical, and accredited agency could have eliminated the large majority of their problems. Second, they did not appear to have any understanding about the psychology of institutionalized children, and so were completely unprepared when Alex was terrified of bathwater or would not feed himself pieces of banana. The author's frustration at Alex's behavior led her to say to him: "Its just banana, for chrissake!" Not very helpful for a terrified, developmentally delayed child who has just been removed from the only environment he has ever known. Third, they appeared to have no cultural sensitivity whatsoever to the daily difficulties that Russians face -- things that most of us in this country can barely imagine. "I hate this country (Russia) and I hate the people," says the author. While her frustration with the delays with getting Alex are totally understandable, her lack of respect or understanding for another culture is appalling, particularly given the fact that she is creating an international family. Fourth, this couple actually considered kidnapping Alex and trying to illegally smuggle him over the border to Finland. Clearly they had no idea that they would never be able to get him into the US without the correct Russian paperwork. Again, they had not done their homework. And did they ever consider the effect such an action could have on FUTURE families who wanted to adopt? This story has a happy ending because Alex now has a loving, committed family. But I can only hope that any problems that Alex might face in the future due to his early institutionalization will be dealt with more carefully than his adoption was.
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