Making Room in Our Hearts

Zusatztext 107052423 Informationen zum Autor Micky Duxbury is an adoptive parent of a beautiful and expressive daughter brought to her family through domestic adoption in 1994. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has practiced in the Bay Area for twenty years. Currently specializing in pre and post-adoption education and counseling, she has facilitated pre-adoption support groups for the for eight years. She developed and taught a course on The Psychology of Adoption and offers workshops on Raising Adopted Children. A strong proponent of ethical and child-centered adoption practices, she has worked as a mediator and therapist with all members of the adoption triad. Klappentext Although adoption has never ceased to be a topic of wide interest, there is little material that covers the option of open adoption, which calls for regular contact between the adoptive and birth parents and the child. While closed adoption often prompts anguish and confusion over the adoptee's identity, open adoption allows the child access to his/her birth parents. Making Room in Our Hearts shows that children have a right to know and claim both their biological and adoptive families, rather than having to choose between the two or have no choice in the matter at all. Making Room in Our Hearts covers the basic issues of open adoption while also including real-life, relatable stories of those with experience making and living through these challenging decisions. Duxbury addresses common fears and concerns, gives attention to siblings and other extended family, and discusses how adoption has changed and how it will continue to change in the future. Based on the author's interviews with over one hundred adoption professionals/ experts, birth and adoptive parents, extended family, and adopted children, the book provides profiles of families from a variety of backgrounds and situations and includes a host of viewpoints of those with specific knowledge. By showing how open adoption works for others, those who are currently considering it can see how it may work for them.This cutting edge book will help the readers more fully understand the benefits, concerns, and overall process of a child-centered open adoption. Duxbury has conducted extensive research on the topic, making this an effective resource for those considering open adoption, those experiencing it, and professionalsworking with adoptive and birth parents. "Making Room In Our Hearts is an authentic, inside account of the open adoption experience. It offers an opportunity to listen in as the participants of adoption describe the delights and challenges of their journeys. Openness never s Zusammenfassung Making Room in Our Hearts is an effective and invaluable resource for those considering open adoption, those experiencing it, and professionals in the field. Openness has altered the landscape of adoption, and Making Room in Our Hearts will help us catch up to the reality that is open adoption today. Inhaltsverzeichnis Ito, Foreword. Introduction. My Family's Story. Into the Heart of Child-centered Open Adoption. Understanding Each Other's Fears and Concerns. "This Baby Belongs to Itself and the More People Who Love It, The Better". Becoming Extended Family. Openness in the Public Adoption System. Opening Closed Adoptions. Unique Families - Unique Challenges. Making It Work. A Call For Change. Closing Thoughts. Resources. References ...

"Every once in a while, a book comes along that can make an honest difference in the understanding of an important subjectand, therefore, in people's lives. I'm delighted to say that Making Room in Our Hearts is one of those books. It takes on open adoption, which remains too poorly understood despite its growing prevalence, and explains it in the best possible way: through the stories of those who live it. The result is simultaneously touching and enlightening; it's a wonderful combination that I hope and believe will make an honest difference in the continued evolution of adoption from the stigmatized, secretive process that it used to be into one that is honest, healthy and better serves all of its participants, especially the children." - Adam Pertman, Executive Director, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute "Micky Duxbury has written an interesting, up-to-date book on the beauty and the complexity of families built through open adoption. She has integrated the knowledge provided by other experts in the field with the poignant sharings of real families who have been living their open adoptions over several years. This is a book well worth reading and owning; I highly recommend it." - Sharon Roszia, co-author of The Open Adoption Experience and Program Manager, Special Needs Adoptions for Kinship Center of Southern California "Open adoption is not a trendit is the wave of the future. Making Room in Our Hearts helps us prepare for that future by providing an ethical and child-centered perspective as it puts a human face on open adoption. You will meet real people revealing, as well as struggling, with the ups and downs of these complex relationships. This book fills an important need by providing adoption professionals, birth and adoptive families and their extended familial networks with a wealth of practical and personal information." - Brenda Romanchik, MSW, Open Adoption educator, Birth Parent advocate, and Director of Insight: Open Adoption Resources and Support "Having been born under the closed adoption system some forty-something years ago, it was a profoundly moving experience for me to read about familiesbirth and adoptive familieswho have come to embrace openness for their children. I believe that the adoption community is moving in a brave and important new direction, and that Micky Duxbury's book will provide a vital map for families and professionals alike. I am grateful for this work and only wish that it had been the standard of practice while I was growing up." - Susan Ito, adult adoptee and co-editor of A Ghost At Heart's Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption "This book is a valuable inclusion as an educational tool in the arena of open adoption that can build understanding among those personally involved with adoption, considering adoption, professionals and anyone else who is interested in this topic. Additionally, it offers support to those already in open adoptions who want to hear about how this experience has evolved for others as the years have passed." - Patricia Martinez Dorner, MA, LPC, LMFT, Co-author of Children of Open Adoption and author of How to Open an Adoption: A Guide for Parents and Birthparents of Minors "I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Making Room in our Hearts, by Micky Duxbury so that I could recommend it to every adopting family I have the fortune of consulting with. Never has there been a volume so compassionate, inspiring and informative about why child-centered, open adoption is the correct paradigm for today's adoptions. Ms. Duxbury understands that openness in adoption is not a quantifiable obligation, but a quality that can be cultivated and resides in the heart of family members touched by adoption." - Leslie Foge, MA, MFT, Adoption Psychotherapist and Co-author of The Third Choice: A Woman's Guide for Placing a Child for Adoption "Making Room in Our Hearts is an authentic, inside account of the open adoption experience. It offers an opportunity to listen in as the participants of adoption describe the delights and challenges of their journeys. Openness never shines brighter than when it is expressed in the actual words of those who live it day in and day out." - James Gritter, author of The Spirit of Open Adoption, and The Lifegivers: Framing the Birth Parent Experience in Adoption "This is a wonderful book and the author seems to have complete control of this often-confusing area of relationships. The topic is covered in a thorough as well as realistic fashion. Duxbury is a skilled writer and has a very fr…