Adoption Is a Lifelong Journey by Kelly DiBenedetto

Characters who could be single adoptive parents, usually mothers, appear in six or seven books.Ī number of these books are narrated by an adopted child or a sibling, but usually featuring a version of the dominant narrative, focused on the experiences of coming “home” and/or living in the adoptive family. Six titles in the collection portray same-sex parents. When Meili learns her parents are adopting another child, she must accept the role of big sister and realize a new addition can be just right too.-Provided by publisher Only 5 titles include any extended mention of the birth mother or father, including these two Informational books: As a group, this collection of current picture books seems to convey the message that the true life of adoptees begins at adoption. Of the 29 picture books that include adopted characters in the Diverse BookFinder collection (18 catalogued, 10 coming soon), all but two are centered solely on the adoptive family. Viewing adoption-focused picture books featuring people of color, this simplistic, one-sided view appears to also dominate in c hildren’s literature. “.entering this conversation on one perspective when there are really three parties involved in every adoption is limiting the public understanding and perception of adoption.” “ What's missing is the voices of adult adoptees like myself and birth mothers,” Rebecca Soome Bickly said in a CodeSwitch piece entitled Transracial Adoptees and Their Sense of Self. When the adoption also happens across race and culture, the complexity is magnified.

Of course the reality is far more complicated than the dominant view, with complex layers of loss, identity, family, and home to be explored, often over a lifetime. This is the mainstream, dominant story of adoption. A child needs a home, parents want a child, they are brought together and everyone lives happily ever after.

Adoption Is a Lifelong Journey by Kelly DiBenedetto