Contents

Contents
Acknowledgments		iii
Preface		vii
Introduction: My Adoption Odyssey		xiii
American Adoption: A Shame-Based Culture		1
	Discomfort About Adoption	2
	Talking Around Adoption	2
	The Puzzle	2
	Nurture vs. Nature	4
	Whose Rights Prevail?	5
	Who is Affected?	6
	Antecedents of the American Adoption Culture Today	6
	The Deficit Perspective—the Dark Side	9
	The Psychosocial Perspective—the Enlightened Side	11
	The Fundamental Myth	13
	Procreative Parenthood Exalted	13
	Denial of the Artificiality of Adoption	13
	The Power of the Myth	14
	The Rules	15
	..........For Unwed Mothers	15
	..........For Couples Wanting to Adopt	16
	..........For Child Welfare	18
	..........For the New Family	18
	..........For Adopted Children	19
	..........For the Adoptive Family	20
	..........For Adopted Persons	20
	Adoption Today	21
	References	25
The Adopted Child: Clinical Issues and Psychosocial Problems in Living		29
	A Diversity of Perspectives	32
	Maladjustment Among Adopted Children	34
	Psychoanalytic Assertions	37
	Disturbances In Early Object Relations	38
	Resolution of the Oedipal Complex	43
	Prolongation of the Family Romance Fantasy	46
	Genealogical Bewilderment	49
	The Meaning of Search	54
	Outcomes	57
	References	59
Working with Adoptive Families		65
	Denying the Differences	68
	Denial and Adoptive Families	69
	The Task of Telling	74
	Adult Children of Adoption	77
	Family Roles	78
	Letting Go of Denial	80
	Implications for Practice	81
	References	85
The Task of Telling		87
	Issues About Telling	87
	Anxieties About Telling	88
	The Pain of Telling	89
	Delay Telling?	90
	Not Telling?	91
	Going About Telling	91
	Adoption Happens to Parent and Child	92
	Not Laying the Burden on the Child	92
	"You” Messages and “We” Messages	93
	Adoption is a Shared Experience	94
	References	95
Clinical Notes		97
	Being Adopted	98
	Effects of Social and Cultural Factors	98
	Dysfunctional Outcomes	100
	Adoption Realities	102
	Maintaining the Myth	103
	The Adoptee as Scapegoat	104
	The Unit of Treatment	104
	Coping with Adoption	105
	Consequences	105
	References	107
Discrimination Against the Adoptee		109
	Why Adopted Persons Choose to Remain Closeted	111
	The Roots of Attitudes Toward Adopted Persons	116
	Adopted Persons Are Stigmatized As Being Different, and Inferior	118
	References	123
Anti-Adoptee Media Bias		125
	Adoption Has a Positive Value, But ....	125
	Adoptee Bashing ....	126
	The Denver Rocky Mountain News	127
	The Oregonian	128
	The Grant’s Pass Daily Courier	129
	The San Francisco Examiner	130
	Time Magazine	131
	An Assault On Adoptee’s Rights	132
	Questions	133
	Answers	133
	The Washington Post	135
	Private Interests	136
	The St. Petersburg Times	137
	The Chicago Tribune	138
	About the Industry	139
	References	143
About Open Records		145
	A Wrong Turn	145
	Adopted Person’s Civil Rights	146
	The Model State Adoption Act	146
	The Opposition	147
	Compromise or Capitulation?	148
	A Right Turn	149
	Resolution	150
Open Records Maryland Style 1997		153
	A Certain Fact	154
	"Dirty Little Secret” Legislation	155
	The Fight to Defeat Bad Legislation	156
	Disclosure Vetoes and Contact Vetoes	157
	Search and Reunion vs. Civil Rights Legislation	158
	Mandatory Intermediaries	160
	Lessons Learned	161
	Closing Thoughts	162
Suggested Reading		165
Subject Index		167
Author Index		175
Afterword		179
About the Author		183

Email: jwsmallmsw@jwsmall.com