ADOPTION
The story lurking behind the word

A-dop-tion Mys-tique: n. Cultural framework surrounding adoption policy, law and practice; the beliefs, myths and attitudes that enhance it with meaning, value, and mystery.

THE ADOPTION MYSTIQUE exposes, documents and confronts the effects of negative social stigma on adoption institutions, practices, adopted persons, as well as adoptive and birthparents. It is a timely counterpoint to the misinformation and prejudices which created and maintain the myths of adoption. Secrecy and shame lie at the heart of U.S. child adoptions and have led our society to:

  • Failed child welfare policies
  • Prejudices against adoptees, birth mothers, adoptive parents, and infertility
  • Discrimination and loss of rights for adoptees
  • Anti-adoptee media bias
  • Problems with telling a child he or she is adopted
  • Dysfunctional adoption myths

Joanne Wolf Small gives voice to the voiceless in her book, The Adoption Mystique. She pulls back the veil on this national disgrace and sets the stage for the restoration of justice and equal rights for adopted persons. Small's book embodies what anyone seriously interested in adoption needs to know!

Recommended Reading by
The American Adoption Congress

“I am pleased to have [Joanne Wolf Small] speak on my behalf and on the behalf of all adoptees.”
— Janet F. Allen,
New Hampshire
State Representative

"Takes on sacred cows
of the adoption industry and adoption movement… and makes hamburger of them!”
— Mary Anne Cohen,
Editor, Origins, The Original Origins New Jersey: A Birthmothers Group

“A critical resource for policy makers and practitioners seeking to better understand adoption.”
— Madelyn Freundlich, Children’s Rights, Inc., former Executive Director, E. B. Donaldson Adoption Institute

“Your perspective is one too often missed.”
— Professor Ann Kimble Loux, author, The Limits of Hope: An Adoptive Mother’s Story

“An interesting and valuable account about the adoption experience.”
— Kenneth W. Watson, member, Editorial Board of Child Welfare; co-author with Miriam Reitz of Adoption and the Family System: Strategies for Treatment

Email: jwsmallmsw@jwsmall.com