The Basics of Adoption: A Guide for Building Families in the U.S. and Canada

With about 70,000 domestic and international adoptions each year in the United States and Canada, adoption remains a major means of building families in both countries. Its continued success can be inferred not only from the yearly statistics, but from a report issued in 2003 by the U.S. Census Bureau. To the surprise of many, the report announced the existence of 1.6 million adopted children in the U.S. under the age of eighteen. Written by a former social worker who has placed hundreds of children in foster and adoptive homes and a clinical psychologist who has counseled adopted children and parents, this book offers a comprehensive look at the adoption process by merging the best of social work with the best of psychology.

Adoption can be a frustrating and intimidating undertaking for the unprepared. This guide provides prospective adoptive parents with the insider information that they need to navigate the process-and it provides students with the sort of expert opinion that they need to grasp the academic theory they receive in the classroom.

James L. Dickerson is a professional writer. He is a former social worker who was in charge of foster care and adoptions.

Mardi Allen is a psychologist. She was the 2002-2003 president of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), an alliance of state, provincial, and territorial agencies responsible for the licensure and discipline of all psychologists throughout the United States and Canada.