How do we find ourselves again after the soul-shattering experience of surrendering a child to adoption? What does our journey toward healing mean for our families and loved ones, for society and most of all for our children and their adoptive family? Searching ..., Carol Schaefer's sequel to her acclaimed memoir, The Other Mother: A Woman's Love for the Child She Gave Up for Adoption, not only takes the reader through the complex challenges of integrating her son and his adoptive family with her own over the twenty-seven years since their reunion, she also draws on extensive research as well as the stories of others to offer guidance and hope for creating enriching relationships after reunion. Woven within the narrative is Schaefer's remarkable creative journey from overcoming her fears of publicly telling her story, through the book's writing and publication, to the experience of the NBC movie version airing before an audience of 25 million viewers - thirty years after she was hidden away in a home for unwed mothers to conceal her "disgraceful" secret. "Carol Schaefer is a gifted and eloquent writer. Searching ... is one person's story, but it gives us a lens with which to see the complexity and challenges that adoption brings to everyone that it touches. This book should be required for all who live and work in the world of adoption." Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Lecturer in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Founder and Director of Riverside After Adoption Consulting and Training "Carol Schaefer's new book is wonderfully written and genuinely important. It is certainly about adoption, but it is much more than that; it transcends one person's journey to provide insights into the human experience." Adam Pertman, Author of Adoption Nation and President of the Donaldson Adoption Institute"Searching ... is an exciting new book, and the title is appropriate on many levels. The author gives wonderful insight into the expectations and misunderstandings that derail reunions. Not only do we need to keep searching for ways to make reunions gratifying for everyone concerned, but we would also do well to follow Carol's example of finding meaning in what we do. I highly recommend this book to everyone in the adoption community and beyond."Nancy Verrier, MFT, Author of The Primal Wound and Coming Home to Self
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.