The girls who went away : the hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade / Ann Fessler.

By:

Fessler, Ann

Publication details: New York : Penguin Press, 2006.Description: 354 p. ; 25 cmISBN:

1594200947
9781594200946

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

362.82/98 22

LOC classification:

HV875.55 .F465 2006

Online resources:

Table of contents only

Contents:

My own story as an adoptee -- Breaking the silence -- Good girls v. bad girls -- Discovery and shame -- The family's fears -- Going away -- Birth and surrender -- The aftermath -- Search and reunion -- Talking and listening -- Every mother but my own.

Summary: This book brings to light the lives of 1.5 million single American women in the years following World War II who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced to give up their newborn children. It tells 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. 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 interviewed by Fessler, herself an adoptee, have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives.--From publisher description.

Holdings ( 1 )
Title notes ( 3 )

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Shelving location	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Book	NMC Library	Stacks	HV875.55 .F465 2006 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		33039000825082

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Previous	HV875.5 .R44 1991 "Are those kids yours?" : American families with children adopted from other countries /	HV875.55 .A365 1989 Adoption without fear /	HV875.55 .C38 1998 Family matters : secrecy and disclosure in the history of adoption /	HV875.55 .F465 2006 The girls who went away : the hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade /	HV875.55 .H47 2008 Kinship by design : a history of adoption in the modern United States /	HV875.55 .K43 2009 Adopting the hurt child : hope for families with special-needs kids : a guide for parents and professionals /	HV875.55 .K45 2015 Telling the truth to your adopted or foster child : making sense of the past /	Next

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book brings to light the lives of 1.5 million single American women in the years following World War II who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced to give up their newborn children. It tells 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. 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 interviewed by Fessler, herself an adoptee, have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives.--From publisher description.