Are Your Grandchildren Adopted?

Boston Globe writer Adam Pertman and his wife, Judy Baumwoll, live in Newton, MA, with their two adopted children. It is from this first person perspective that Pertman developed his new book, Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution Is Transforming America, offering valuable insights into the pleasures and pitfalls of adoption. Today, the grandchildren of many Grandboomers are adopted. For others, their children may be considering the adoption process, making them instant grandparents.

While Pertman's book is not specifically written to address the grandparent relationship, it serves to educate all about the adoption process today, new opportunities and more. According to Pertman, the adoption revolution is transforming America. Here are some of the areas covered in Adoption Nation:

* The surprising (good) news about "open" adoption

* How the Internet opens doors to opportunity & corruption

* Why politicians won't tackle crazy laws & soaring costs

* How international and gay adoptions are changing families

* Birth parents: Shedding shame & gaining power

* Why adult adoptees are fighting for their rights

* Public adoption: New hope for "special needs" children

Pertman's book also suggests ways that policy makers should improve the often-arduous adoption process. Filled with up-to-the-minute information and a wealth of dramatic real-life stories, Adoption Nation is essential reading for anyone touched by the adoption process.

Pertman shatters the negative stereotypes that have long been associated with adoption, and provides a hopeful look to the future-one that's straight from the heart of an adoptive father.

Jane Nast, president of American Adoption Congress had this to say about Adoption Nation, "The author truly understands the concerns of everyone in the adoption 'triad' and conveys this in an eloquent, compassionate way that brings adoption out of the shadows of secrecy into the mainstream of America. A remarkable book that I would like to put in the hands of everyone in the nation."

And this from Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, author of The Family of Adoption, "Adam Pertman brings the eye of a seasoned and wise journalist and the heart of an adoptive parent to this amazing book. It should be required reading for anyone related to and relating to adoption in any way."

Adam Pertman is a staff reporter for the Boston Globe. He was a Pulitzer-Prize nominee for a series of articles on adoption published by the Globe and has been awarded the Century Foundation's Leonard Silk Journalism Fellowship for Adoption Nation.

Adoption Nation is published by Basic Books, and distributed by HarperCollins Publishers.