Excerpts from Adoption Songs

With over twenty "tracks," Adoption Songs beautifully captures the complexity, joy, and trauma of the adoption experience. Select a story below for a glimpse into the emotional depth and richness of the tales in this sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking book.


Our story begins with facing infertility. After we married, we moved to Michigan, far away from our family in the South. We wanted to have kids right away, but it just didn’t happen.


When I was married to my now ex-husband, we struggled to have children. I had three ectopic preganancies and we tried in vitro three times after that. By the time we got through all of that, I was nearly ready for the cuckoo bin!


I think it would help a lot of adopted people if their parents were honest like mine were. I’m so grateful for the way they handled our adoptions, because I think when people don’t know they’re adopted and then they find out, it’s a huge shock to their system.


When we began having children, I began to think about my biological heritage a little more. I had no idea what health issues I could pass on to my children. When one of our children was born with a minor birth defect, the question was certainly raised in my mind.


You don’t get much warning when you get a baby from an adoption agency. We got the call and had to leave almost immediately to get our baby, Mark.


If you’ve done a county or state adoption, you know the drill. The parenting classes are the hardest.