Recommended Reading

As I mentioned in my last post, Jeff and I have been doings lots of reading. One adoption blog we stumbled upon recommended the book "Adoption Is A Family Affair" by Patricia Irwin Johnston. The blogger and her husband read the book before purchasing copies for their immediate family members, so Jeff and I decided to do the same. It's a short, easy read that focuses on educating family and friends of adopting couples about how adoption works. It also points out many of the myths and stereotypes surrounding adoption, most of which exist due of lack of knowledge about it. We purchased copies for our siblings and parents to read, but would love it if you decided to read it to! It costs about $10 on Amazon.com.

One thing I want to point out about the book--one or two of the reviews claimed that the author seemed insulting. We didn't think so, but she does assume that most people reading this book know little about adoption and therefore may have some negative preconceived notions and a few reservations about it. In the back of the book, the author publishes some pretty offensive comments that adopting couples have reported hearing. We know you'd never say things like, "If God intended you to have children, you'd be pregnant by now." or "Too bad you had to adopt. Your kids would have been real cute." Can you believe that people actually say those things to adopting couples!? Our families and friends have been nothing but supportive so far, so please know that we are not asking you to read this book because you have offended us. We just get asked a lot of questions about how adoption works and this seems like the best place to start. :)

One more thing...the "maybe you'll get pregnant after you adopt" comment does not offend us. We're unique in that we have gotten pregnant on our own before, and we have no clear reason for our pregnancy losses. We aren't planning to try to get pregnant on our own, but it could happen because it's happened before. However, we're not holding out hope for that, and you shouldn't either. We're really excited about adoption and we want you to share our joy as we build our family!