Adopting On Your Own: The Complete Guide to Adoption for Single Parents - Softcover

Varon, Lee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0374128839 ISBN 13: 9780374128838

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000

Synopsis

The first guide of its kind, covering all stages of the adoption process

Adopting on Your Own addresses the questions and concerns of prospective single parents. Lee Varon, a practicing therapist specializing in adoption counseling and the single mother of two adopted children, helps readers make an evenhanded assessment of whether adoption is right for them, then leads them through the different stages of arranging and financing the adoption. She weighs the advantages of open versus closed and international versus domestic adoption for the single parent, and demystifies potentially daunting steps such as choosing an agency and preparing for the home study.

Adopting on Your Own also offers up-to-date information on the latest developments in interracial adoption policy, the legal rights of gays and lesbians to adopt, and the evolving attitudes of agencies and social workers toward single-parent adoptions. Throughout the book, Varon draws on personal anecdotes and the experiences of her clients to offer honest, insightful advice on every step of the adoption process.

About this title

About the Author

Lee Varon is a social worker with a Ph.D. in social welfare policy and the co-director of the Adoption Network, a counseling and referral agency that focuses on single parents. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

From Publishers Weekly

Herself an adoptive mother of two and a counselor who has helped thousands of clients through their adoption decisions, Varon candidly covers just about every issue of concern to single men and women who are considering adoption in this excellent guide. She starts at the beginningAwith making the decisionAand offers insights on a variety of crucial questions: How old is too old to parent? How much money do I need to adopt a child? Can I adopt if I had cancer five years ago? Are there right and wrong reasons for wanting to adopt? She then walks readers through the adoption process, from determining which child is right for you to different types of adoption, including international. She covers the ins and outs of choosing an agency and preparing for the home studyAincluding whether or not potential adoptive parents should be open about their sexual orientation. Varon also discusses issues that commonly arise with adopted children and offers suggestions on how to handle them. There are exercises, suggestions for keeping an adoption journal and an extensive resource section that concludes the book. While Varon's primary focus is on adoption for singles, anyone considering adoption will find this an invaluable resource. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0374128839
• ISBN 13: 9780374128838
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 428