Heidi G. (Whirlgirl) reviewed Lifegivers: Framing the Birthparent Experience in Open Adoption on + 4 more book reviews
From back cover: No one seems sure what to make of birthparents. Most of the time, birthparents are simply discounted; the adoption system is pleased when they fade into the woodwork. We seldom afford birthparents an influential or enduring place in the adoption process.
In Lifegivers: Framing the Birthparent Experience in Open Adoption, open adoption practitioner James L Gritter examines all the ways in which birth parents are marginalized. He provides a glimpse of birthparents emotional roller coaster ride as they struggle with grief, ambivalence and regret. Most importantly, he makes the persuasive case that if the institution of adoption exists to benefit children, then adopted children are best served when birthparents remain a part of their children's lives.
Gritter challenges us to treat involved in the adoption process - birth parents; adoptive families; and above all the children with honor and respect.
In Lifegivers: Framing the Birthparent Experience in Open Adoption, open adoption practitioner James L Gritter examines all the ways in which birth parents are marginalized. He provides a glimpse of birthparents emotional roller coaster ride as they struggle with grief, ambivalence and regret. Most importantly, he makes the persuasive case that if the institution of adoption exists to benefit children, then adopted children are best served when birthparents remain a part of their children's lives.
Gritter challenges us to treat involved in the adoption process - birth parents; adoptive families; and above all the children with honor and respect.
