[BlackSheep]

Just ordered my copy of this book so I can read it. Looking forward to reading it now that I have read this post.

[thanksgivingmom]

Okay - I just picked up this book from the library yesterday and have started reading!

I really hope we can get a discussion going about the book!

[RavenSong]

My library put a copy of the book on reserve for me. I'm picking it up in the morning. I'm glad we're doing this together. It'll be good to bounce ideas and thoughts off each other.

[crick]

I just picked it up today! TGM's post reminded me to get going on it.

So hurry up and read everyone!

[BrandyHagz]

I am so glad to see you guys reading this together. I know my post was a long time ago, but the book is still very much with me.

I look forward to reading what you guys think.

[BlackSheep]

Received my copy in the mail yesterday. Am already 112 pages into it and have read things that I'm not sure I really wanted to know....but I am rapt by the book and don't want to put it down although I have to so I can work, take care of family, etc.

Looking forward to sharing thoughts with everyone!

[thanksgivingmom]

I haven't had much quality time to read the book (hopefully will tonight!) but at about 100 pages into it there are several things that already fascinate me....Just the way that history has so severely shaped perception today - for instance the case study of 500 single mothers, every one of which was found to have some very serious "flaw" (one third "retarded", the rest "moral monstrosities," "demented," etc. - and heck, can't find something wrong with her? She's pre-insane! )

Or the extreme focus on money - the belief Georgia had about the importance of it in a child's life....as if she were some backwards Robin Hood for kids. It's all so sad and is all SO clearly seen today in our society.

[meghann]

Wow.

I picked this up at the library last night & just finished it. My mind is officially blown.

I need some time to distill what I've read & put my thoughts in order, but I think I'll have a lot to say. (Also - I'm a freakishly fast reader. I want to give everyone else a chance to catch up.)

My initial thought is that we really have come a long way. The bad news, of course, is that we shouldn't have had to come all that way to begin with. And "where we came from" absolutely highlights where we need to go.

I have some ideas, but also a good understanding of some obstacles. But as I say, I need to wrap my head around what I've read before I can discuss it intelligently. And that's not going to happen at midnight...

[Dickons]

I am thrilled that so many adoptive parents are reading this book. I do think it is very important to understand what has happened in the past so that it NEVER happens (or happens and is stopped immediately) in the future.

I do want to comment for those adoptive parents that take the time to read this book...even though things may/may not be flawed in the current system...I personally would never ever feel different about my mom and dad - they love me - I love them...I know for a fact that if they had seen something wrong in my adoption - they would have stood up and said - this is wrong we must change it - that is all I need to know and I know that because I know them.

Kind regards,
Dickons

[Dickons]

For those interested the following link takes you to an audio interview with Barbara Bisantz Raymond on The Baby Thief. Approximately 50 minutes long.


Psychjourney Audio Book Club: Adoption


Kind regards,
Dickons

[thanksgivingmom]

Grrr - STILL haven't had the quality time necessary! But I've been taking notes on what I HAVE read and have questions that I'd like to put forward once we're all ready to discuss (Yes, I'm a nerd like that!)

So, good news/bad news situation:

Good news - I'm going to have lots of time to finish because I'm going on vacation

Bad news - I'm not going to be around to talk about the book until a week from Monday

SO - talk away and I'll catch up!!!

[BlackSheep]

Finished the book and have to say that it is one that you definitely need some time to digest! Yes, I am blown away. Who could ever conceive that one person could do so much damage to one system, but a the same time, also do good? She made it OK to adopt for so many parents that just wanted to have a child to love. That hadn't happened before. That also just floors me!

[crick]

I'm about 120 pages in and thought the same thing you just stated Black. "made adoption really possible and not just possible but removed the social stigma of it and yet....the crimes that followed...."

Have to keep reading...

[RavenSong]

I finished the book this morning, but I'm gonna have to mull it over for a day or so before writing down my thoughts. One thing that I think is really important is how Georgia Tann's legacy still permeates the very core of modern adoption. The author does a good job reminding the reader of this fact throughout her book.

One thing that really bothered me was to discover that she was directly responsible for the adoption legislation that was passed here in California in 1949, a year before her death. The state laws that she was instrumental in getting passed made California only second to Tennessee for draconian treatment of birth mothers. These laws were still in place in California when I relinquished my baby in 1972. So her "philosophies" and policies directly impacted both myself and my son years after she was dead.

[crick]

Okay, I finished and figured I'd post some brief thoughts...

I thought the book was very redundant in some ways. I felt like a 20-page article would have been sufficient. I’m not saying that to diminish anything in the book, just saying for me personally it would have had a bigger impact on me had the same things not been repeated over and over again from page one to 200. It caused the feeling of “Okay, I GET IT!” which then for me as a reader makes me almost desensitized to some of the things in there.

What I came out of this book with more than anything was this…


It's been 60 years since that wench died and she's still being held responsible for all that is wrong with the sealed adoption records, amended birth certificates and all that is wrong with adoption. (And yes, she did indeed cause that to be sure!) However, what about all the people in power since then that could and should have rectified this mess by now? What about them...where's their responsibility? I guess I’m angered even more in some ways that she was given all the power during her “reign” and 60 years later is STILL being given that power in death. Long before I adopted, this stuff should have been fixed! I mean seriously. My DH should not be going to 3 different counties to open up his records and finding out his history. And yes, Tann started all this and got the laws in place for this, yet where were the people later to fix it? I know it takes longer to undo something and all that, but it doesn’t change my opinion of all those that have followed since either.

On Tann personally…I was just dismayed by her crimes against all those people. To the children she stole, abused and killed to the parents she stole them from and to the parents she gave them to with whatever lie necessary to make her money. For her and Crump and the judges who legalized it all, may they burn forever. And all her spotters and “helpers”…shame on them too. Tann couldn’t have achieved any of this without all the “help” she received and at one point I thought “She’s just another Hitler in a different situation really”. Took her view of what she felt was “RIGHT” and convinced all those around her, bullied them etc. to follow along. It’s no different in concept than what Hitler did, imo.

Then I started thinking of some of the good things that came out of this. Adoption being an accepted practice that wasn’t ever seen before. The small amount of actual legal adoptions done did pave the way for kids who truly do need families. And yet, it took decades to get to the point where people realized it’s still not being done the right way.

I have more thoughts, but this is what I’ll end with for now. Interested to see other people’s opinions and where the discussion goes.