Adoption Books

I love books and I have a stack of books on my desk that I plan to read as soon as I find the time. This month I finally found some time to get started on reading at least a few of them. Two books that I've wanted to read for some time now are Adopting the Hurt Child and Parenting the Hurt Child by Gregory Keck and Regina Kupecky. These books are well known in the adoption community and were recently updated to include references to internationally adopted children.

If you have adopted or are thinking about adopting older children, either domestically or internationally, both these books are a must read. If you have family members who have adopted older children, if you know families with older adopted children, if you are a teacher and have these children in your class, or if you want to better understand my two adopted children, you should pick these books up. At a minimum, I suggest reading chapter two of Adopting the Hurt Child. The information in this chapter will give you some insight into why these children do some of the things they do.

Once you read these books, you will no longer be able to look at these children in the same way. Instead, you will be amazed at how resilient these children are and how much energy they have to put into overcoming the hurts they've experienced in their early life. You will also be angry about the treatment some children endure at the hands of those who should care for and protect them. I am grateful for all the parents who have answered the call to love and parent these hurting children.

I cannot imagine our family without Maria and Jon Felipe in it. We have been fortunate in that they both have developed strong bonds to us and we with them. Even though we continue to address some issues related to their background, they are both able to love and be loved. After reading these books, I am no longer taking for granted that this is the way it always works.