Not reviewed yet. On the recommended book list.
| Real parents, real children: parenting the adopted child, Van Guiden, Bartels-Rabb Crossroads Publishing, NY (Amazon), 1993 | |
|---|---|
| Relevance to Ireland |   |
| It is very much American-centered. It is using very antiquated 'racial' concepts, and only challenging them superficially. | |
| Relevance to pink adoptions | |
| Very hetero-centric. It is only relevant to the extent that pink families are just like any families, so all that applies to them applies to us. But we strive to find any recognition of our reality. There is only a line about LGBT parents, in the introductio; there is a small section on gay children, mostly around the fear of homosexuality . But at least it makes the case that even if we are commited households, we are still not allowed to marry. What saves it is the sharp focus on international adoptions. | |
| Accessibility | |
| A bit dry, and a bit 'old school psychology'. The kind of book you wish you never started, you are happy to have finished, and that you will find very useful having read. | |
| Rigor |  |
| Some very useful illustrations, and tables, for instance on the type of information to gather about birth parents and the country of origin. Very detailed review of all the age ranges, how adopting at that age impacts the child, and the family, and how to address issues for adopted children of that age. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| A must read. It is reinforcing a sense that we are entitled to feel entitled to our adoping household. After all we will have spend years preparing and being assessed. And then we will spend the rest of our lives dealing with adoption related issues in our kids from childhood to adulthood. Also worth re-reading the age sections when the child arrives, and when the child reaches those stages. | |
[...] from more complex books. It is a good book to relativize the knowledge acquired in such books as Real parents, real children: parenting the adopted child. But it tends to give permission to discard any uncomfortable truth by labeling it 'political [...]