The Adoption Decision: 15 Things You Want to Know Before

In North America, more and more families are adding members through adoption. And there are more ways to adopt—and kinds of adoption—than ever.

This quick–start resource will help prospective parents consider key emotional and spiritual issues up front…before they plunge into the near–overwhelming mass of details and start to run into roadblocks, even dead ends.

Laura Christianson—an adoption educator and mentor, and an adoptive mom herself—brings her experience and knowledge to address unspoken but crucial questions about…

• loving an adopted child
• extended family’s reaction
• expenses
• openness in adoption
• the role of birth parents
• physical disabilities
• emotional/behavioral challenges
• racial and cultural prejudices

Recounting real–life miracles and mishaps of adoptive families, the author will help prospective parents—and their friends and family members—think through adoption’s challenges and joys, and confidently move forward from a firm emotional and spiritual footing.

The Adoption Decision: 15 Things You Want to Know Before Adopting

User Reviews

I really like the information that the book offers. The author does not hide the fact that she is Christian, but I don't feel that it is an overbearing aspect of the book. My issue with it is that she has a very strong bias about the adoption process being equal to the the birth process. It is almost offensive to me as a birthparent because her stance is to defend to everyone that the child is truly a part of the family. Most people understand that an adopted child is as much a part of the family as much as a birth child - that does not mean that you did not arrive their differently or that it is a different experience. I think it is very important for potential adopters to understand that for themselves, but it is just as important to the adoptee (in future years) to know their culture, not be denied the opportunity to find out about it because the parents refuse to address it. That will cause more problems for a child already struggling with understanding why they are given away to begin with. Experts would say that you acknowledge the adoption (unless you get them from a day old or something maybe) and make it something special instead of something taboo. I do like that the books asks potential parents to really search their hearts as to their motivation for adopting. It doesn't make you a hero to adopt, it makes you a parent with a different set of challenges. I would recommend the book if you can get past the bias, but for me it is actually turning me away from adoption because of that. I do not want to take away my positive feelings about my pregnancy, birth, nursing, the first year milestone, and my precious son because I am considering adoption. I want to have another child another way and get information on how to do that. Thanks for reading and God bless your journey. -- Adoption makes you a parent, but it is different than birthing

I enjoyed reading this book. I feel that it is a good book to read if you are in the beginning stages of the adoption process. It is informative and has many anecdotal stories. -- Quick Read!

My husband and I were looking for a book to help us decide if we are ready to start the adoption process. This book brings up many of the heart issues that should be discussed and thought about as a family. We appreciated the Godly perspective on adoption and would recommend it as a good starting point to any Christians thinking about adoption. -- Good Book for Preparation

This was one of the first books I ordered on adoption and I considered it to be a very nice overview. This is actually the first book that made my husband and I consider the possibility of domestic adoption and introduced us to the idea of open adoptions as well. I appreciated the easy to read style and the overall honest, yet still upbeat tone, of the book. I would definitely recommend it as a good starting book if you are considering adoption. -- Great overview for people considering adoption

I put a star rating on the book because Amazon requires it. But I think my rating is unfair as I am unable to appreciate it. However, I wanted others to be aware of the strong Christian perspective that this book carries. I purchased the book, but had not seen the very vague references in the descriptions to the overwhelming Christian message. I did not read the reviews closely, which few mention this aspect of the book, and now I have a book that does not meet my needs. I believe that for someone with a shared faith basis of the book, this book might be useful. But for me, I find the faith-based tone of the book distracting and not appropriate for my desires.

My copy, unused will be for sale soon. -- strong christian influences

Tags:adoption-decision,adoptive-families,adoptive-mom,behavioral-challenges,birth-parents,cultural-prejudices,family-members,north-america,overwhelming-mass,physical-disabilities,prospective-parents,spiritual-issues

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