The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adoption

by Christine A. Adamec

“A beacon through the often tangled and varied paths to parenting through adoption.”—William Pierce, President, National Council for Adoption Hailed as “an extremely valuable resource” by Jann Heffner, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, this new edition covers the adoption process, new information on cyber adoption, changes in adoption laws, and the financial considerations of adoption. • Updated appendixes with new listings for adoption agencies, publications, adoptive parents’ groups, and adoption attorneys • Comprehensive information on adopting abroad, Internet-assisted adoptions, and the legal aspects of adoption, including pre-birth consent laws  

Genres: Adoption, Nonfiction, Parenting

432 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Christine Adamec has written or coauthored more than 40 self-help books, parenting books, and encyclopedias, most recently coauthoring The Grandfamily Guidebook with Andrew Adesman, MD. Adamec is a grandparent who, with her husband, is raising her grandson. In addition, she coauthored Fibromyalgia for Dummies (Wiley, 2007), which has sold more than 100,000 copies in two editions. Adamec has also written or coauthored numerous books on substance abuse and mental illness, including), The Encyclopedia of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (Facts On File, 2010), The Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse (Facts On File, 2008)and How to Live with a Mentally Ill Person (Wiley, 1996). Adamec lives near Orlando, Florida.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good and fairly thorough overview of the adoption process. There wasn't a lot here that I didn't already know, but I appreciated the statistics and stories that fleshed out the details. I'm not sure it's detailed enough to be considered a "complete idiot's guide" -- it's still not clear to me how much "baby stuff" we had to have prior to having our home study, nor who is in charge of arranging the court proceeding for the adoption finalization. Also, some parts were poorly edited, which was frustrating. The edition I read was almost 10 years old, and I don't fault it for being so out of date on things related to the Internet (which was rather humorous, actually), but if this is your primary resource you'll want to get the most updated edition.

[Janalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't you love reading any book with The Complete Idiot's Guide in the title? Good info. Most of it I knew already, but there was still some great stuff for me to think about. I read this because it was 1 of 2 books my local library had about adoption. Sheesh!

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always wanted to adopt and with so much information out there I just wanted a simple guide that could give me all the basics and an overview of what all is involved in the adoption process. This was a great starter book!

[Melanie Ridgeway · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is for Idiots nothing new, nothing helpful, a bit on the discouraging side. Much better books out there, skip this one.

[Crestafiesta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great resource on the different options in the adoption world. Excellent tips and things to watch out for.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful if you wish to adopt an infant, but not if you intend (as I do) to adopt an older child from the state system.

[Vive-un-Livre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good points. You'd find out more by attending information meetings from adoption agencies.