Adoption Reunions: A Book for Adoptees, Birth Parents and Adoptive Families

Patricia Fenton is chair of the Adoption Council of Ontario.

This book is important for those interested in adoption search and
reunion. The author, an adoptee herself, describes the angst and pain
she, and those she interviewed, experienced. Adoptees and birth parents
will readily identify with the issues and examples described. Adoptive
parents, however, may find the discussions unsettling because of the
emphasis on the negative aspects of the adoption
experience—abandonment, rejection, identity confusion—even though
McColm describes herself as “accepted and well-loved” by her
adoptive family.

The book clearly criticizes traditional closed adoptions and blames
them for many of the problems experienced by adoptees and their birth
families. The author shows how reunions can be one way to begin to
“heal the pain” for birth parents and adoptees. Practical hints and
descriptions of the basic tools for searching make this a very valuable
book, as does the sensitive advice for all parties in adoption that is
included. The role of peer support groups and the importance of
counseling for anyone planning a search and reunion are both stressed.

Lists of provincial adoption disclosure registries and many of the
search and support groups across Canada give the reader access to the
network of services available.