Out of Many, One Family: How Two Adults Claimed Twelve Children through Adoption

by Bart Fletcher, Claudia Fletcher

This book is the account, with helpful wisdom along the way, of an adoptive family's first twelve years, recounting how each child was claimed. Two Adults. Twelve Children. One Family.

Genres: Nonfiction

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Thorn MotherIssues · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Claudia and Bart from their blogs and Claudia is currently helping my partner and me find an older child who would fit well in our home, so there's my bias up front. However even if I didn't know anything about the Fletchers, I think this would be a great book for a waiting family like ours. The Fletchers went from being a newly married older childless couple to the parents of 12 through foster placements that turned into adoptions, adoptions of older children from the foster care system whose parental rights had already been terminated (what Claudia is now helping us do, I hope!), and even some international adoptions. Each chapter discusses the preparation for a new child or sibling group -- foster or adoptive -- or a child's entry into their family. They're honest about their expectations and the advice they were given and also about how reality did and didn't live up to it. Each chapter closes with a bulleted list of take-aways, which is a useful way to let the readers flip through and be reminded of the story but also what might be useful to them where they are in their foster-adoptive path.

I don't think I've read any other memoirs so clearly focused on the mechanics and rationale behind older child adoption, which is what drove me to read blogs on the topic in the first place. It was neat for me as a blog reader to get a before-they-were-blogstars picture of the Fletcher kids and what they were like as little children, though as a blog reader I do wish the book could have concluded with a summary of their current trials and triumphs.

This isn't the most sophisticated writing ever, but it's clear and very clearly honest. There must have been a faulty word replace at some point and "homestudy" comes up for "birthmom" in several instances, but once you realize what's going on, it's easy to figure out what's really meant. Other than that, it's very straightforward and poignant too.

I don't know that this would take off as a book club selection or draw in people with no interest in adoption, but I think the diversity of experiences in this one family make it useful for people who are already involved in foster care/adoption (like me!) or are assessing whether it might be right for them. The Fletchers don't sugar-coat anything, but they show how they were able to work through and work past a lot of problems -- their own and their children's -- to create a large and loving family.

[Millertribe13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hard to put down because you can't wait to see what happens next.
This book is a must read for people that want to adopt or be foster parents or for those that have already fostered or have adopted.

[Denise]

This is a must read for anyone fostering or adopting. There is so much great information and advice that you won't always get from workers. I wish I had this book before we started our adoption journey. Thanks Claudia and Bart!

[Mercurybard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read large chunks of both Claudia and Bart's blogs and actually found the blogs to have the depth and breadth that I've been looking for in adoption tales. However, for someone considering adopting older children, this would be an excellent "first" book as it raises all sorts of scenarios based on their experiences. Claudia (and it really does feel like Claudia did the bulk of the writing) uses their story to point all sorts of little lessons that can be learned about foster/adopted children, birth parents, "the system", social workers, and the foster/adoptive parents themselves.