I guess I should’ve expected how close to home this would hit: the subtitle sums it up. It revolves around the oral histories of women who were sent to homes for unwed mothers in the 1940s-1960s, their nearly-always coerced adoptions, their lives after surrendering, their reunions if they ever occurred. I am part of a birth family: my mother relinquished my two younger siblings for adoption, and it defined my childhood. Adoption is such a sore nerve, I almost never read about it. Besides which, […]
Nobody puts Baby in a corner!!!
I’m pretty sure I first heard about this book in a CBR review, but it must have been before we had this domain, because the only other review on the site as of now is expandingbookshelf’s, which is actually the reason I finally picked it up. Anyway, this is one of those times I’m so glad I’m a part of the online book community, because I never would have heard of this book otherwise, and it was a very worthwhile reading experience. I wouldn’t have known […]
We’re not going back to this
The 2016 presidential election is already causing a lot of hurt feelings. Over the last couple of months, I’ve heard some friends draw lines in the sand. If this person doesn’t get the democratic nomination, I’m not voting. Or I’ll vote for the Republican. My vote will only go to the candidate that matches my viewpoint 100%. I respect your right to have an opinion and all, but I have a message for you (and if you are still planning to vote Republican, you are […]
They Didn’t Always Choose to Give Them Up
I’m not sure what drew me to this book. I’m not adopted, and I’m not aware of anyone close to me who was either adopted or surrendered a child for adoption. But it was probably the subtitle that pulled me in: ‘The hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade.’ The ‘solution’ to unplanned pregnancies for many anti-choice people is for the woman to carry the pregnancy to term and then surrender the child for adoption. That […]