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Adopting the Hurt Child: Hope for Families with Special-Needs Kids - A Guide for Parents and Professionals
Without avoiding the grim statistics, this book reveals the real hope that hurting children can be healed through adoptive and foster parents, social workers, and others who care. Includes information on foreign adoptions.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 13, 2021
This is the most blunt and harsh adoption resource book I've yet read. If you're questioning your decision to pursue adoption, this book will almost certainly end your journey.
At the same time, this is one of the most encouraging books I've read. When this book, with all its bluntness and raw truth, tells you "there is hope", it feels somehow more solid than in books with lighter, "fluffier" messaging.
The chapters tend to start with the harsh truths - "this is what adoption does/causes/looks like", "this is the behavior you will find in 80%+ of adoptees", etc... and then goes on to supply specific therapies, techniques, and approaches to handle these situations. The consistent message is - "this will NOT be easy, and there WILL be more challenges than you can possibly expect, but with the right support, therapy, resources, and education, in most cases there is hope for healing."
I appreciate the blunt, data-driven approach, supported by anecdotes and copious examples. The book is a scary read, but I think it may also be a necessary approach for someone who persists in wearing rose-colored glasses as they approach adoption.
I've learned a lot from this book - two whole pages of questions to ask about a child I'm applying to adopt, specific therapies and resources for support post-adoption, the more common behaviors and coping strategies I can expect from an adopted child (as well as far more extreme examples). I also feel more prepared and supported for the inevitable challenges of raising an adopted child.
At the same time, this is one of the most encouraging books I've read. When this book, with all its bluntness and raw truth, tells you "there is hope", it feels somehow more solid than in books with lighter, "fluffier" messaging.
The chapters tend to start with the harsh truths - "this is what adoption does/causes/looks like", "this is the behavior you will find in 80%+ of adoptees", etc... and then goes on to supply specific therapies, techniques, and approaches to handle these situations. The consistent message is - "this will NOT be easy, and there WILL be more challenges than you can possibly expect, but with the right support, therapy, resources, and education, in most cases there is hope for healing."
I appreciate the blunt, data-driven approach, supported by anecdotes and copious examples. The book is a scary read, but I think it may also be a necessary approach for someone who persists in wearing rose-colored glasses as they approach adoption.
I've learned a lot from this book - two whole pages of questions to ask about a child I'm applying to adopt, specific therapies and resources for support post-adoption, the more common behaviors and coping strategies I can expect from an adopted child (as well as far more extreme examples). I also feel more prepared and supported for the inevitable challenges of raising an adopted child.
May 27, 2019
Good information, couched in academic language
It was a good book that didn't shy away from the negative aspects of adoption and foster care, but also balanced that nicely against an element of hope. However, compared to other books I have read on this topic, this one was far more academic for the duration of the read and was, on occassion, a bit dry.
It was a good book that didn't shy away from the negative aspects of adoption and foster care, but also balanced that nicely against an element of hope. However, compared to other books I have read on this topic, this one was far more academic for the duration of the read and was, on occassion, a bit dry.
July 4, 2025
A brutally honest expression of the realities of adoption. A book that those who are preparing to adopt will not want to read, but those who have adopted may read and feel seen and acknowledged in their experience.
February 12, 2016
Had heard a lot of this before, but some good info.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews