ADOPTING A CHILD TODAY

by Rael Jean Isaac ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

An aware, informed and informative guide to adoption, this should be of vital interest to the prospective adoptive couple and, hopefully, of equal concern to the agencies and individuals involved in selecting homes for babies up for adoption. Mrs. Isaac's approach is direct and pragmatic; it becomes evident that she holds small brief for the often obstructive attitudes of social workers in particular who sometimes place professional self-esteem above the interests of the child (as in the Holt case), and apply Freudian doctrine to the exclusion of such motivation as the humanitarian impulse. She surveys the prospects of agency and independent adoption (the latter finds the baby a home younger); the position of the unmarried mother, the ""hard-to-place"" child, the disturbing outcome of foster care, the particularities of problems attendant upon adoption (community acceptance, whether or not to tell the adopted child). Mrs. Isaac is sanguine about the agencies' ability to change their attitudes advantageously, distressed by the tendency toward more stringent religious pressures. Starting with her extensive briefing for an agency interview, she maintains a high level of pertinent performance throughout the book that is a sound directive.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1965

Categories: NONFICTION