Unlocking the Heart of Adoption

Since my sister-in-law was adopted, and my cousin adopted not one, but five children, our family perhaps has a more realistic picture of the adoption process, which is rarely a simple case of a happy and healthy baby being placed in the home of a loving and nurturing couple and all involved living happily ever after. In fact, there are many issues involved in adoption, some of which can have a lifelong effect on adoptees and adoptive parents as well as birthparents. Filmmaker Sheila Ganz's Unlocking the Heart of Adoption dispels many of the romantic myths surrounding the adoption process, interweaving her own personal story as a birthmother who was raped and later relinquished her child for adoption, with the stories of a wide range of adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive parents, touching on topics ranging from trans-racial adoptions to feelings of abandonment issues experienced by adoptees. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Asala)