"A family is a family, no matter how it comes to us," reassures one adoptive father in this luminous and groundbreaking portrait of today's adoptive families.
BE MY BABY is infused with the conviction of adoptive parents that they and their children were meant to be. In their own words, parents consider and speak about how their families came together, and how they're coming along.
In a section devoted to the thoughts of adopted children from nine to nineteen, kids tell what's on their minds, and how it feels to be adopted. Whether it's the many children who say, "I feel really special being adopted, " their wisdom, good sense, and honesty are deeply affecting and empowering to all adoptive children.
In another part of the book, adult children look back on their lives, speaking of different life passages and speculating on how much or how little adoption has affected them. "In the end," says one woman, "being adopted is part of the recipe of who you are, but it's not the main ingredient."
Finally, birth mothers come out of the shadows to speak of their love and concern for the children they chose not to raise themselves, and their gratification, nonetheless, at finding them the right homes. Children, too, speak of the importance of knowing about birth parents in order to better know themselves.
Along with these truthful, comforting, and ebullient life stories, vibrant photographs illuminate the faces of adoptive families--be they domestic, interracial, international, open or closed adoptions--making Be My Baby an immediate and beautiful testimony to the dream--and reality--of creating a family of one's own.
