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Regifted: An Adoptee's Memoir of True Belonging
A raw, often wry, memoir of mothers, mysteries, and miracles.
Surrendered at birth in a closed adoption, Candi Byrne’s biology and ethnicity is a secret. The impending arrival of her first grandchild ignites an urgency to identify potential genetic time bombs and confirm her ancestry. Due to arcane privacy laws, Candi is repeatedly denied access to the one person who could provide that information—her biological mother.
After years of failed attempts, she resigns herself to never learning the truth about her roots; that is, until her ninety-year-old Aunt Delores has a vision and insists Candi resume efforts to find her birth family. Candi is gobsmacked when an internet search she’s performed thousands of times before suddenly reveals her birth mother’s identity. Within hours, she ends up on the doorstep of her birth mother—a place she’s sworn never to visit.
After a series of guilt-driven interactions with “Those People,” as she refers to her maternal birth family, Candi terminates contact. Although the reunion proves disastrous, it opens her eyes to truths about her relationship with her adoptive mother, Delphine. Though their relationship was difficult and contentious during Delphine’s life, a series of miraculous experiences after her death guides Candi home to herself—where, she learns, she has belonged all along.
Surrendered at birth in a closed adoption, Candi Byrne’s biology and ethnicity is a secret. The impending arrival of her first grandchild ignites an urgency to identify potential genetic time bombs and confirm her ancestry. Due to arcane privacy laws, Candi is repeatedly denied access to the one person who could provide that information—her biological mother.
After years of failed attempts, she resigns herself to never learning the truth about her roots; that is, until her ninety-year-old Aunt Delores has a vision and insists Candi resume efforts to find her birth family. Candi is gobsmacked when an internet search she’s performed thousands of times before suddenly reveals her birth mother’s identity. Within hours, she ends up on the doorstep of her birth mother—a place she’s sworn never to visit.
After a series of guilt-driven interactions with “Those People,” as she refers to her maternal birth family, Candi terminates contact. Although the reunion proves disastrous, it opens her eyes to truths about her relationship with her adoptive mother, Delphine. Though their relationship was difficult and contentious during Delphine’s life, a series of miraculous experiences after her death guides Candi home to herself—where, she learns, she has belonged all along.
216 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2022
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 5, 2022
I love this book! As an adoptee, I relate to much of what the author writes about in terms of the feelings that are deeply ingrained when we are denied the truth about our family of origin. As a reader, I couldn't put the book down. Byrne tells a story that is raw, real, and empowering. I highly recommend it for those touched by adoption and everyone else too!
April 11, 2025
When Candi read me a passage from her book at a gathering in West Virginia in 2024, I was taken aback by the quality of her writing. Not because it seemed unlikely, because, as a relative, I know she's an articulate, capable person. But, even given this inside info, it was more impressive than I'd expected. Her prose grasps your attention in the way it must to carry you through personal journey that is not your own. I have some problems with the narrative that I will deal with in the way that a family member must --- behind her back.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews