A Mother's Adoption Journey

Patricia Fenton is chair of the Adoption Council of Ontario.

Adoptions from China represent the number one choice for Canadians
adopting internationally today. This book provides an excellent,
close-up account of this experience from the adoptive parent’s
perspective. In a diary-like format, the author movingly and often
humorously chronicles the phases of the adoption journey she and her
husband experienced: their decision to adopt, the homestudy process and
planning for their child, the waiting period, the travel to China,
meeting their new daughter and bringing her home, and life with their
daughter up to age 4. The book includes useful information about the
adoption process and a list of well-chosen resources. A Mother’s
Adoption Journey is highly recommended for applicants who are adopting
from China, as well as for family and friends who want to better
understand the emotional aspects of adoption as experienced by adopting
parents.

Many people think of the adoption journey as ending when the child
arrives home, and this book leaves something of that impression as well.
In fact, adoption, as we now understand it, is a lifelong process. I
would hope that, in a few years, Ryan will write a sequel covering the
next stages of the journey as her daughter grows up, develops an
understanding of adoption, and passes through the developmental stages
that adoptees experience in moving out into the world of school and
community, developing their identity, understanding their adoption, and
integrating their adoption story into their lives.