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Half a million women

Mothers who lose their children by adoption

Auteur Howe David
Categorie anderstalig
Uitgeverij Penguin Books
Isbn 978 0140154153
Jaartal 1992

How do women make the painful choice to give up a child for adoption?

Much may have been written about adoption, but very little of it has focused on the point of view of the birth mother.  This pioneering book examines all aspects of the experience of giving up a child for adoption: the social stigma of being an unmarried mother; the heartbreaking dilemma of deciding whether or not to relinquish the child; the isolation from parents, society and the child's father; the years of grieving and wondering about the child, and finally the hope and fear of being traced by that child.

As well as clarifying the mothers' feelings about giving a child to other parents, Half a million Women also explores the attitudes of society, the laws surrounding the issue and the medical and psychological viewpoint.  Taken together with the personal narratives of the mothers interviewed, they form a scorching indictment of the way young women undergoing traumatic, life-changing decisions are treated by a judgemental society.

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