Adopted persons face challenges their entire lives as they struggle to answer the most basic question: Who am I? The hope of open adoption is that adopted children will develop stronger identities if they have the opportunity to develop healthy ongoing relationships with their families of origin. Making Room in Our Hearts offers an intimate look at how these relationships evolve over time, with real-life stories from families who have experienced open adoption first-hand. This book helps both adoptive and birth parents address their fears and concerns, while offering them the support to put the child’s psychological and spiritual needs at the center of adoption. Based on interviews with more than one hundred adopted children, birth and adoptive parents, extended families, professionals and experts, the book is an effective and invaluable resource for those considering open adoption, those experiencing it, and professionals in the field. Openness has altered the landscape of adoption, and Making Room in Our Hearts will help us catch up to the reality that is open adoption today.

Six-year-old Elizabeth is excited to have her dad visit school today but worries some of her classmates might notice they don't look alike. How will Elizabeth respond when her friend says, "That's your dad? You don't look like him."

"My mommy didn't carry me in her tummy, she carried me in her heart." Bailey, a 5-years old who was adopted from China. Her story is included in this book. According to People magazine, parents from all over the country seek adoption expert and Worldwide Orphans Foundation founder Dr. Jane Aronson’s help “as if consulting a master detective.” Angelina Jolie praised Dr. Aronson’s “drive and ambition to help children dream” (Elle). Indeed, over the course of the past three decades, Dr. Aronson has touched the lives of thousands of adopted children from around the world and in this inspiring book she presents moving first-person testimonies from parents (and a few children themselves) whose lives have been blessed by adoption. Divided into thematic sections—such as "The Decision," "The Journey," and "The Moment We Met")—each prefaced by Dr. Aronson, this book introduces readers to Claude Knobler, a writer from Los Angeles whose journey to Ethiopia to adopt his son led to an unexpectedly moving encounter with the boy’s courageous birthmother; actor Mary Louise-Parker whose older adopted son’s bond with her newly adopted baby daughter was deep and unwavering from the instant the two children met; and Lynn Danzker, an entrepreneur who set off alone to adopt her son, Cole, and in the process, met and married her husband. The authors of these testimonies range from doctors to filmmakers, from financial consultants to celebrities—all of them bound by their moving and transformative experience as adoptive parents.

This book covers common open adoption situations and how real families have navigated typical issues successfully. Like all useful parenting books, it provides parents with the tools to come to answers on their own, and answers questions that might not yet have come up.

Adoptive parents often experience the double trial of emotional responses to infertility and to the process of adoption itself, called "excruciating labor with no end in sight," by one adoptive mother. Would-be adoptive parents cycle through grief, anger, fear, anxiety, frustration, and guilt-and back again. All of these emotions cloud decision-making, at exactly the time that adoptive parents are making life-altering, irrevocable decisions: whether to adopt at all, to adopt an older child or an infant, or to parent a child with developmental delays, as well as other pressing questions. New empirical research by Kathleen Whitten, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist and adoptive mother, and other experts in the field contradicts many of the outdated myths presented to parents and written about in widely-used adoption guides. Whitten separates fact from fiction and leads parents by the hand through the many emotional impacts the process involves. Written in a reassuring, conversational tone, the author tells parents when they should listen to their heart-and when practical considerations are too important to ignore. Each chapter features workbook section with constructive exercises and stimulating questions. Adoptive parents do not need yet another book promising a "fast track" to a child or explaining how to collect documents. Instead, they need Labor of the Heart to help them through the difficult emotions and decisions about adoption.

A heartwarming collection of true stories that weave a rich tapestry of the adoption experience from many different perspectives: birthmothers, adoptive parents and grandparents, and adopted children and adults. These inspiring stories reveal the challenges and joys of the lifelong adoption journey including: the pain of letting go of a child; the wonderment of meeting "your" perfect child halfway around the world; the challenges of adopting an older child already set in his ways; watching a child's potential flourish in a loving environment; sibling rivalry and eventual bonding; integrating a child's culture into a new multiracial family; finding peace in the search for identity, roots and unanswered questions; and feeling the happiness and love that comes from forming a family. While each story is unique, the emotions conveyed are universal: love, loss, hope and joy. The collection will appeal to everyone affected by adoption, regardless of their phase in the journey. Stunning black-and-white photos are included.

Adoption Means Love: Triumph of the Heart is a powerful compilation of stories from people across the country and around the world, who have been personally touched by the miracle of adoption. The timely importance of this book cannot be overstated. Roughly 500,000 children are in U.S. Foster Care today. Millions more wait in orphanages around the world for their forever families. Each story, found within the pages of Adoption Means Love:Triumph of the Heart, reaches deep into the soul and compassionately uncovers the ribbons of truth that connect us all. Honestly and poignantly, the book celebrates the transformation and triumph that is adoption.

A sweet and adorable story about the blessings of adoption. You Were Always in My Heart is an endearing tale told from the point of view of a little ladybug, Dot, who happens upon a mysterious bundle one sunny day. Dot goes with the little bundle as she is carried to the place “where babies come to be found” and promises to stay with the little one throughout her journeys toward finding a forever family. Written by Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, this heartwarming tale is inspired by the true story of their adoption of three little girls from China and is a story of hope and faith for all families who have been blessed by a “little bundle of love.” Previously published as Shaoey & Dot: Bug Meets Bundle. Meets national education standards.

"Mama," said Barley. "Tell me again how I'm your wish come true."Thus begins this beautiful story for adoptive families. I Wished for You: An Adoption Story follows a conversation between a little bear named Barley and his Mama as they curl up in their favorite cuddle spot and talk about how they became a family. Barley asks Mama the kinds of questions many adopted children have, and Mama lovingly answers them all. With endearing prose and charming watercolor illustrations, I Wished for You is a cozy read that affirms how love is what truly makes a family.

A new graphic novel featuring 200+ voices from the Minnesota adoption community, interwoven with fantastical characters.