For the Love of a Child: The Journey of Adoption by Monica L. Blume

I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now. I felt it was time to read it. It's a book I knew I wanted to have on our bookshelf -- for that day when Callie is 16 and has certain questions...the day when she just wants to read about adoption in her attempt to get some answers and figure things out in her own mind. I thought this would be a good resource for the entire family.

So, I bought and read the book. It was a good book, though different than what I expected for some reason. It was filled with interesting statistics and facts that I thought were important, and, well, interesting. The first part of the book is written by Monica, as an LDS Family Services caseworker. Though it was interesting (gosh, can't I think of a better word here?), I felt some of it was repetitive. I attribute that, however, to reading this while I worked out, having a harder time focusing, and being overall too busy. So, perhaps I wasn't in "the zone" as I read it. The second portion of the book is written by adoptive parents, birthparents, extended families on both sides, and those children who have been adopted. To me, this was the best part of the book. And, again, maybe it's because it aligns with a project I'm currently working on and so it naturally interested me more. But reading these personalized stories and heartfelt accounts and testimonies -- that's what made the book so fantastic. The first part seemed to talk about why adoption was the best option in certain circumstances. I guess, I already have strong feelings about adoption, so maybe that's why it seemed redundant. It was the writing from the birthmothers and grandparents, etc that brought it home. It's a good book, and I think it's a good book to have on our shelves.

It's a fantastic book, however, for those who are struggling with the idea of adoption -- who are struggling to decide their overall stance on adoption, for those who are trying to decide if they should choose adoption for their unborn baby, and for those trying to decide if adoption is the right path for them in creating their family. It is certainly a great book for family members who want to be supportive to the pregnant woman in their family choosing to place her baby for adoption, and for the family members who will be welcoming a baby into their home through adoption.