Carried in Our Hearts
The Gift of Adoption: Inspiring Stories of Families Created Across Continents
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"My mommy didn't carry me in her tummy, she carried me in her heart." Bailey, a 5-years old who was adopted from China. Her story is included in this book.
According to People magazine, parents from all over the country seek adoption expert and Worldwide Orphans Foundation founder Dr. Jane Aronson’s help “as if consulting a master detective.” Angelina Jolie praised Dr. Aronson’s “drive and ambition to help children dream” (Elle). Indeed, over the course of the past three decades, Dr. Aronson has touched the lives of thousands of adopted children from around the world and in this inspiring book she presents moving first-person testimonies from parents (and a few children themselves) whose lives have been blessed by adoption.
Divided into thematic sections—such as "The Decision," "The Journey," and "The Moment We Met")—each prefaced by Dr. Aronson, this book introduces readers to Claude Knobler, a writer from Los Angeles whose journey to Ethiopia to adopt his son led to an unexpectedly moving encounter with the boy’s courageous birthmother; actor Mary Louise-Parker whose older adopted son’s bond with her newly adopted baby daughter was deep and unwavering from the instant the two children met; and Lynn Danzker, an entrepreneur who set off alone to adopt her son, Cole, and in the process, met and married her husband. The authors of these testimonies range from doctors to filmmakers, from financial consultants to celebrities—all of them bound by their moving and transformative experience as adoptive parents.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A New York pediatrician specializing in adoptive medicine, and the founder of Worldwide Orphans Foundation, Aronson is a crusader for international adoption, gathering here myriad stories of her efforts over the years to bring surprisingly untraditional families together across the world, including her own tale of adopting as a single parent in 2000. Aronson groups the stories around themes: from the decision to adopt, including factors such as the advanced age of the mother or the determination to help orphans in need; the journeys abroad to places in China, Russia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam, many of which are gloomy and rundown; the first emotionally overwhelming meetings with the orphans before any developmental issues with the children were revealed; and the rocky adjustments to life back in the U.S. In presenting these candid stories, fashioned by the various parents and even an older sibling and an adoptee herself, Aronson does not sugarcoat the details, describing the arduous bureaucracy involved and the fact that some orphans have suffered such abuse that they cannot make the transition to American homes, as well as Aronson's fervent belief that international adoption should be "the last resort for an orphan" when all other attempts at keeping the original family together have failed. Overall, there is a wealth of information and hope here for people looking at possibilities for international adoption, and there is certainly no better advocate on the long journey than the upbeat, passionate Aronson.
