Book Review: Adopted for Life, by Russell Moore

I recently read Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches, by Russell Moore.

It took me a while to get into this book, but overall, I liked it and I do recommend it for anyone considering adoption.  It's a good one to add to your home library of adoption resources, and good to share with your relatives if you are an adoptive family.  Moore discusses adoption on earth through the lens of God's adoption of us as Christians.

My favorite take-away from this book: "adoption is a past-tense verb" and your child's adoption shouldn't be "the key defining characteristic of your child."  I agree completely, and this is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately - I like to share about our adoption because I want more people to think about it as an option, but I don't want my sweetie to think that it defines who he is.  The author provides some good ideas for how to respond when people want to talk all about all the details of the process of your adoption.

A major focus in this book is about how churches can foster a culture that is open and supportive of adoption.  He makes a point about how great it would be if wedding ceremonies incorporated prayers for children of the union, whether they come through birth or adoption.  I loved this part, and I would love to see more churches talk about adoption here on Earth just as God's adoption of us.

While I didn't just devour this book, I'm glad I read it and it has made me think more about international adoption in particular.  

Have you read this book?  Is international adoption a part of your life?  If so, I would love to hear about it!

Book Review: The Open-Hearted Way to Open-Adoption, by Lori Holden with Crystal Hass

I picked this book up on a whim at the library last week.  The title piqued my interest because we have an open adoption.

This is a great book for anyone involved in the adoption process or contemplating an open adoption.  The authors are the birth mother and the adoptive mother in (what I would call) a very open adoption.  I call it very open because they seem to have very frequent contact with both of the biological parents.

The authors very thoroughly explain how open adoption benefits the child with reconciling the "split" between his/her biology and biography.  The subtitle of the book ("Helping your child grow up whole") really sums up the book.  As adoptive parents, all we really want is for our child to grow up "whole" and feel good about himself, who he is and how he came to be.

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I think the first half of the book can be really helpful for folks who are not yet in an open adoption - the authors really explain who the players are in the adoption and the real life anecdotes are interesting to read.

I liked the second part of the book ("Orienting on the Child: Open Adoption's True North"), and I know I am going to be referring back to it again and again over the years.  Holden gives some good examples of how to deal with the question of "where's your real mom?" and also refers to other helpful resources.

The book is a quick read, and a great one for every adoptive family!