Confessions of a Lost Mother
Barton, Elisa. Elisa Barton 2006. Twenty years after she placed her baby for adoption, a birth mother answers the question “What was it like, giving up a child?”
Birth Fathers and Their Adoption Experiences
Clapton, Gary. Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2002. Thirty birth fathers recall their experiences and the impact it had on their lives.
Because I Loved You: A Birthmother’s View of Open Adoption
Dischler, Patricia. Goblin Fern Press 2006. The regret and pain a birth mother faced after placing her son for adoption and how she replaced it with love and understanding.
How to Open an Adoption: A Guide for Parents and Birthparents of Minors
Dorner, Patricia. R-Squared Press 1997. How to get the most out of your open adoption.
Following the Tambourine Man: A Birthmother’s Memoir
Ellerby, Janet. Syracuse University Press 2007. One woman’s story on how she went from a protected and privileged childhood to an unplanned pregnancy and adoption.
The Girl Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade
Fessler, Ann. Penguin Press 2006. Women who were forced to give up their babies for adoption from the 1950s through the early ’70s talk about the choices they had to make and the aftereffects.
I Choose This Day: Mournings and Miracles of Adoption
Fieker, Sharon and Smith, Lori. Tate Publishing & Enterprises 2006. A birth mother looks back on why she placed her baby daughter for adoption and how she and the circumstances behind her placement changed over the years.
The Third Choice: A Woman’s Guide to Placing a Child for Adoption
Forge, Leslie and Mosconi, Gail. Third Choice Books, 2004. A guide for prospective birthparents dealing with the complex issues involved in placing a baby ranging from what to expect during your pregnancy to how to deal with your emotions afterwards.
To Keera with Love: Abortion, Adoption, or Keeping the Baby, the Story of One Teen’s Choice
Heckert, Connie. Sheed & Ward, 1989. The journey of one teen as she goes from a happy and protected home environment to becoming a mother too soon and the decisions she made along the way for herself and her child.
Reunion: A Year in Letters Between a Birthmother and the Daughter She Couldn’t Keep
Hern, Katie. Seal Press 1999. Letters trace the post-reunion relationship between a birth mother and the daughter she placed for adoption 26 years earlier.
Dancing Naked
Hrdlitschka, Shelley. Orca Book Publishers, 2002. Sixteen and pregnant, Kia faces the most difficult decision of her life and realizes that life isn’t as simple as she thought it was.
Soul Connection: Memoir of a Birthmother’s Healing Journey
Hughes, Ann. Otto Bay Books 1999. A birthmother reunites with her son through the help of astrology.
Birthmothers: Women Who Have Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories
Jones, Merry. iUniverse.com, 2000. Birth mothers recount their reasons and the emotions behind their decision to place their babies for adoption.
Thank You Son for Finding Me: A Birthmother’s Story
Kane, Beth. Hushion House 1999. Fifty years after she placed her son for adoption, a birthmother reunites with him.
Blended Hearts, Broken Promises: An Open Adoption Gone Wrong
Kats, Linda. MileStones 2005. A birth family explains how they were duped and betrayed after agreeing to place their baby for adoption.
Motherhood Silenced: The Experiences of Natural Mothers on Adoption Reunion
Kelly, Ruth. Liffey Press 2006.Through their own accounts, this book examines the impact of adoption and reunion on a group of birth mothers.
Twice Born: Memoirs of an Adopted Daughter
Lifton, Betty Jean. Other Press 2006. Life as an adoptee when talking about adoption and one’s birth parents was considered taboo.
Healing the Hole in a Heart: One Birthmother’s Journey into the Adoption Triangle
Mac Isaac, Nancy. Mac Isaac Enterprises 1998. A guide to getting the most out of your reunion and building relationships with all members of the triad.
Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s Journey
McElmurray, Karen. University of Georgia Press 2006. In a work of creative non-fiction, a birth mother explains how she survived being coerced into placing her child for adoption and the reunion that followed.
Shadow Mothers: Stories of Adoption and Reunion
McKay, Linda. North Star Press of St. Cloud, 1998. A birth mother tells her story and the story of nine other birth mothers who placed their babies for adoption, and the ups and downs that followed.
Returned with Love: I Gave My Baby Away – A Story of the Pain and Joy of Adoption
Page, Kathryn. Winepress, 2005. The story of one birthparent who turned her life around with the help of religion after placing her baby for adoption..
Cooperative Adoption: A Handbook
Rillera, Mary Jo and Kaplan, Sharon. Triadoption Library, Inc. 1985. A handbook for birth parents and adopting parents on how to build healthy relationships in open adoption.
Adoption and Loss: The Hidden Grief
Robinson, Evelyn. Clova Publications, 2005. How one woman who placed her son for adoption in the ‘70s dealt with her grief and the obstacles she had to overcome en route to her search and reunion.
Saying Goodbye to a Baby: Volume 1–The Birthparent’s Guide to Loss and Grief in Adoption
Roles, Patricia. Child Welfare League of America 1989. Strategies on how to deal with the post-placement loss and separation of your child.
The Other Mother: A Woman’s Love for the Child She Gave Up for Adoption
Schaefer, Carol. Soho Press, 1992. A first personal account by a birth mother on her decision not to parent her child and what others can learn from it.
Dear Birthmother: Thank You for Our Baby
Silber, Kathleen and Speedlin, Phylis. Corona Publishing,1991. A guide to open adoption that includes letters by adoptive parents and birthparents, and between the birth parents and their children.
Adoption Healing… A Path to Recovery for Mothers Who Lost Children to Adoption
Soll, Joseph. Gateway Press, 2003. The emotional, psychological and physical fallout suffered by women who were forced to give up their babies for adoption and how to deal with the loss and pain.
The Birth of a Mother: How the Motherhood Experience Changes You Forever
Stern, Daniel and Bruschweiler-Stern, Nadia. Basic Books 1999. A infant psychiatrist explains the impact that becoming a mother has on women’s lives.
