Book Title:

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Adoption, Second Edition (Paperback)
by Christine Adamec (Author)

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com

The byzantine process of applying for adoption can leave even the best and the brightest feeling like an idiot. Fear not. Chris Adamec, coauthor of the Encyclopedia of Adoption and mother of an adopted child (plus two biological kids), has survived the process, truly believes in it, and passes along everything she’s learned in more than 15 years of writing on the subject – all in a warm, encouraging style.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Adoption begins with two chapters designed to help readers determine their adoption readiness by describing lifestyle changes and typical costs as well as offering a smart reality check in the form of a self-evaluation. The next section provides excellent information on adoption arrangers (agencies, lawyers, private individuals), adoption finances, laws and rights from state to state, and the increasingly popular international adoption scene. Then Adamec gets into the nitty-gritty of the actual adoption process, such as going through the dreaded home study (an evaluation of the potential adoptive family’s lifestyle), dealing with birth mothers, coping with the challenges of raising adopted children, and, finally, facing a child’s desire to search for his or her birth parents.

An extra-large reference section includes adoption agencies, organizations, attorneys, parent groups, and more. Throughout the book, Adamec offers “real life snapshots” (true stories about different stages of the adoption process), helpful definitions of “adopterms,” family-building tips, easy-to-understand charts, and relevant statistics – all to help potential adoptive parents arm themselves with multiple winning strategies. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Adoption is an excellent primer that should instill readers with enough confidence to drop their “idiot” badge. – Liane Thomas

Book Description

This new edition covers the adoption process, new information on cyber adoption, changes in adoption laws, and the financial considerations of adoption.

  • Updated appendixes with new listings for adoption agencies, publications, adoptive parents’ groups, and adoption attorneys
  • Comprehensive information on adopting abroad, Internet-assisted adoptions, and the legal aspects of adoption, including pre-birth consent laws

From the Author

You’re not an “idiot” if you try to obtain as much information as possible when you’re adopting a child. My book simplifies the process and I hope it will save you time and money as you move toward adopting your child. I have completely updated CIG to Adoption to reflect the current needs of people adopting today, and contacted hundreds of people, including social workers, attorneys, adoptive parent group leaders and others who helped me transform the book into one I hope will enable you to adopt your child. A new section on the Internet is included and I updated the adoption law chart, among the many changes that have been made. I also updated the agency and attorney appendixes.

About the Author

Christine Adamec launched an adoptive parent group in 1986 and was appointed to the Florida Adoption Advisory Council from 1989-1990. She publishes the newsletter Adoption/Medical News and is the author of There ARE Babies to Adopt and co-author of The Encyclopedia of Adoption.