Abbie E. Goldberg, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Clark University. She is the author of several books on adoption, including Gay Dads: Transitions to Adoptive Fatherhood.

Goldberg's insightful book on open adoption is based solidly in her research, yet is written in a clear and direct style that will appeal to a broad audience. Based on in-depth interviews with heterosexual and sexual minority couples, it effectively highlights how adoptive parents navigate complex decisions and dilemmas that emerge over time, richly illustrating this discussion with case material. This is a must-read for those considering adoption, those who have adopted, and those who serve adoptive families."- Harold D. Grotevant, PhD, Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• AcknowledgementsPrologue 1. Getting to Adoption: The Path before the Path 2. Orienting to Open Adoption, Considering Contact, and Reflecting on Race: Pre-Adoption Perspectives and Preferences 3. "Meeting the Reality of Our Situation": Placement Experiences and Circumstances and Post-Placement Openness and Contact 4. Imagining and Enacting Birth Family Contact Over Time: Trajectories of Openness Among Private Domestic Adopters 5. Navigating Openness and Contact in Child Welfare Adoptions 6. Adoption Talk: Communicative Openness Throughout Childhood 7. Weaving a Family Narrative: Genetics Talk 8. Facebook as Facilitator or Foe: Boundaries and Birth Family Relationships on Social Media and Beyond 9. Absence and Ambivalence: How Birth Fathers Fit into Adoption Stories 10. Summing Up: Practical Strategies and Applications for Families Appendix A Appendix B References Index

Abbie E. Goldberg, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Clark University. She is the author of several books on adoption, including Gay Dads: Transitions to Adoptive Fatherhood.

Goldberg's insightful book on open adoption is based solidly in her research, yet is written in a clear and direct style that will appeal to a broad audience. Based on in-depth interviews with heterosexual and sexual minority couples, it effectively highlights how adoptive parents navigate complex decisions and dilemmas that emerge over time, richly illustrating this discussion with case material. This is a must-read for those considering adoption, those who have adopted, and those who serve adoptive families."- Harold D. Grotevant, PhD, Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• AcknowledgementsPrologue 1. Getting to Adoption: The Path before the Path 2. Orienting to Open Adoption, Considering Contact, and Reflecting on Race: Pre-Adoption Perspectives and Preferences 3. "Meeting the Reality of Our Situation": Placement Experiences and Circumstances and Post-Placement Openness and Contact 4. Imagining and Enacting Birth Family Contact Over Time: Trajectories of Openness Among Private Domestic Adopters 5. Navigating Openness and Contact in Child Welfare Adoptions 6. Adoption Talk: Communicative Openness Throughout Childhood 7. Weaving a Family Narrative: Genetics Talk 8. Facebook as Facilitator or Foe: Boundaries and Birth Family Relationships on Social Media and Beyond 9. Absence and Ambivalence: How Birth Fathers Fit into Adoption Stories 10. Summing Up: Practical Strategies and Applications for Families Appendix A Appendix B References Index

Abbie E. Goldberg, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Clark University. She is the author of several books on adoption, including Gay Dads: Transitions to Adoptive Fatherhood.

Goldberg's insightful book on open adoption is based solidly in her research, yet is written in a clear and direct style that will appeal to a broad audience. Based on in-depth interviews with heterosexual and sexual minority couples, it effectively highlights how adoptive parents navigate complex decisions and dilemmas that emerge over time, richly illustrating this discussion with case material. This is a must-read for those considering adoption, those who have adopted, and those who serve adoptive families."- Harold D. Grotevant, PhD, Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• AcknowledgementsPrologue 1. Getting to Adoption: The Path before the Path 2. Orienting to Open Adoption, Considering Contact, and Reflecting on Race: Pre-Adoption Perspectives and Preferences 3. "Meeting the Reality of Our Situation": Placement Experiences and Circumstances and Post-Placement Openness and Contact 4. Imagining and Enacting Birth Family Contact Over Time: Trajectories of Openness Among Private Domestic Adopters 5. Navigating Openness and Contact in Child Welfare Adoptions 6. Adoption Talk: Communicative Openness Throughout Childhood 7. Weaving a Family Narrative: Genetics Talk 8. Facebook as Facilitator or Foe: Boundaries and Birth Family Relationships on Social Media and Beyond 9. Absence and Ambivalence: How Birth Fathers Fit into Adoption Stories 10. Summing Up: Practical Strategies and Applications for Families Appendix A Appendix B References Index