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Home > Books > Subjects > Parenting & Families > Adoption (page 3) > Girls Went Away Hidden History Women Surrendered Children Adoption in Decades Before Roe V Wade
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The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade | |||||
  | 80% Recommended by our customers. Catalog: Book Release date: 2008-10-08 Media: Library Binding Number of pages: 362 Ean: 9781439559987 Book Isbn: 1439559988  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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| amazon.com | Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. | $24.00 |
| Professional Review: |
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A powerful and groundbreaking revelation of the secret history of the 1.5 million women who surrendered children for adoption in the several decades before Roe v. Wade In this deeply moving work, Ann Fessler brings to light the lives of hundreds of thousands of young single American women forced to give up their newborn children in the years following World War II and before Roe v. Wade. The Girls Who Went Away tells a story not of wild and carefree sexual liberation, but rather of a devastating double standard that has had punishing long-term effects on these women and on the children they gave up for adoption. Based on Fessler's groundbreaking interviews, it brings to brilliant life these women's voices and the spirit of the time, allowing each to share her own experience in gripping and intimate detail. Today, when the future of the Roe decision and women's reproductive rights stand squarely at the front of a divisive national debate, Fessler brings to the fore a long-overlooked history of single women in the fifties, sixties, and early seventies. In 2002, Fessler, an adoptee herself, traveled the country interviewing women willing to speak publicly about why they relinquished their children. Researching archival records and the political and social climate of the time, she uncovered a story of three decades of women who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced or outright forced to give their babies up for adoption. Fessler deftly describes the impossible position in which these women found themselves: as a sexual revolution heated up in the postwar years, birth control was tightly restricted, and abortion proved prohibitively expensive or life endangering. At the same time, a postwar economic boom brought millions of American families into the middle class, exerting its own pressures to conform to a model of family perfection. Caught in the middle, single pregnant women were shunned by family and friends, evicted from schools, sent away to maternity homes to have their children alone, and often treated with cold contempt by doctors, nurses, and clergy. The majority of the women Fessler interviewed have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives. A searing and important look into a long-overlooked social history, The Girls Who Went Away is their story. |
| User Reviews: |
 Written on January 7, 2008 Summary: intense read I would strongly recommend this book for anyone involved in adoption. As an adoptee, the book really changed some of my opinions and gave me a lot of insight into the history and experiences of these women.  Written on December 16, 2007 Summary: Solid history undermined by one-sided opinions This book provides a compelling description of a period of history when sexual mores were loosening, abortion was difficult, and bearing children out of wedlock was a disgrace, hence large numbers of babies were immediately adopted after hidden pregnancies. The history is clearly described, and if the book were only history, I'd give it four stars. The scope is well-focused and the research is extensive and compassionate. The organization is less than perfect, as it seems as though the same themes run through all the chapters, with only incremental development. I found the normative interpretations less compelling. Nearly unanimously, the interviewees claim they would have opted to keep their children, and it is unconvincing to me for them in hindsight to mostly blame their parents, the people who failed to educate them, and the social workers for what is more logically blamed on living in a more backwards time and sometimes their unwise choices. Numerous illnesses, nightmares, and anti-social tendencies are cited to begin with the forced adoptions, and generally cited to end with reunion with the grown children, and many of the links seem implausible. As one of the real reviews here on Amazon mentions, the idea of a study of the effects of adoption from talking with people who come forward, usually people troubled from giving up their children for adoption or who strongly wanted to search for their birth parents, is unlikely to be objective. Accordingly, the book is devoid of conflict between the two sets of parents once introduced, devoid of conflicts between mothers and their reintroduced children, and seems to indicate that no women fail to be obsessed with and depressed about the child lost. Also, only one or two women of the 100(?) women described feel adoption was the best course, no matter the poverty and disgrace their situation would have suffered. Maybe true, but I doubt the complete story is so unanimous. Finally, and most strikingly, abortion is very rarely mentioned. There were only a few mentions of trying to throw oneself down the stairs for this purpose. There were a couple of oblique hints that other solutions to the trauma of unwed motherhood would have been possible if the parents had learned of the pregnancy sooner. Any book addressing the situation of unintended pregnancy, and most of the woman said their pregnancies were unintentional, is very hard pressed to avoid this topic. Perhaps the author is pro-life, and doesn't want to alienate some readers, and thus puts on the blinders. In any case, it is odd. The beginning and end are the most engaging, the first from filling in the history, the later part from hearing the diverse ways the drama played out in many individual cases. The themes that suffering by the birth mothers was underappreciated and there was much misdirection do hold sway, despite my complaints. I respect the author's point of view, but find it hard to consider this a dispassionate recounting. Written on October 24, 2007 Summary: Perfect book at the perfect time I was able to begin to process years of pain and brokenness while reading this book. It is intense and touching and tells it exactly as it was for me and all the other "mothers" before and after me. Even though the author is an adoptee, she was able to capture, through her interviews with many mothers, all of the pain, shame, loss, and suffering that we endured. I have written a personal letter to Ann Fessler to thank her for her efforts and hard work in writing this book. I have also sent a copy of this book to both my sons to help them understand why they had such a broken mother for so many years. My most heartfelt wish today is that the daughter that I had to "give away" all those years ago, is able to read this book and have some understanding of why I could not keep her. I highly recommend this book to any mother affected in any way by adoption and to any adoptee. It has caused a profound change in my life. Finally at 60 years old, I can begin to live my life instead of just going through the motions. I have been able to forgive myself and begin to grieve the loss of a child from 40 years ago. I feel awakened from a trance and free to live - finally. Written on October 10, 2007 Summary: shocked and saddened i'm currently reading this book. it's taking me a while because although it's a fascinating and compelling read, i get so angry while reading it I slam the book shut, point my finger at whoever is nearest me and start shouting about these poor women who had their babies taken from them without any consideration for their mental, physical, emotional health or well being. anyone who says roe v. wade isn't the best ruling the supreme court ever made should be dope-slapped repeatedly. and anyone who isn't absolutely enraged or brought to tears by this book is not human. I knew people born in the 50's & 60's who were adopted and said they really had no desire to meet their biological mother because they were "given up," and i used to agree with them. i suggest you read this book, it will make you see things from a different angle. Written on October 10, 2007 Summary: Heartbreaking I cried throughout - this is a heartbreaking book and a reminder of how greatful we should all be for a change in the times. I gave it to my mother in England, whose roommate had given up for baby for adoption and it was the most emotional that I had ever seen her (and that is saying something for an English person!) I have given this book to many friends as it is simply the best book I have read in years. |
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| Our price | $24.00 | $10.20 | $14.28 | $19.55 | $14.65 | $10.20 |
| List price | $24.00 | $15.00 | $21.00 | $19.95 | $14.95 | $15.00 |
| Lowest used price | - | $5.65 | $1.35 | $11.99 | $10.13 | $1.93 |
| Lowest new price | $24.00 | $8.27 | $9.95 | $12.81 | $10.04 | $7.95 |
| Collectible price | - | $189.95 | $21.00 | - | $15.00 | $24.95 |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 2008-10-08 | 1993-04 | 1994-06-01 | 2003-11-21 | 1998-09-01 | 2007-04-24 |
| Media | Library Binding | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback |
| Number of pages | 362 | 231 | 363 | 218 | 155 | 320 |
| Ean | 9781439559987 | 9780963648006 | 9780140512953 | 9780967839011 | 9780878391295 | 9780143112112 |
| Book Isbn | 1439559988 | 0963648004 | 0140512950 | 0967839017 | 0878391290 | 0143112112 |
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