Bonded at Birth - An Adoptee's Search for Her Roots by Gloria Oren

Did you know that November is National Adoption Month? To help commemerate all the wonderful families of adoption (on both sides of the equation) I've been invited to participate in the book tour for Gloria Oren's newly released memoir: Bonded at Birth: An Adoptee's Search for Her Roots. 

About the Book

(I took the following from Amazon:) 

Gloria Oren’s adoption memoir Bonded at Birth: An Adoptee’s Search for Her Roots is a story of loss, survival, determination, and persistence. It covers one state, three countries, and two continents. It covers sixteen years of searching and a little over four decades since her first adoption. After growing up under the umbrella of secrecy, Gloria sets out to find her birth mother with all she knew about her: she was a Jewish teenager. Despite being told by anyone and everyone that it would be an impossible feat, her determination and motivation increased. Learning her birth father’s name upon reunion with her birth mother and a short time later that he passed away eight years before led to her getting involved in genealogy and through this research medium she discovered that her first cousin seven times removed was Col. William Prescott of the Battle of Bunker Hill fame and more. Seven years later her story is brought full circle.

Bonded at Birth will interest adult adoptees who wish to search but hesitate, adoptive parents confronted by their adopted child’s wish to search, and by birth parents who fear searching not wanting to intrude on their biological offspring’s life. It will attract memoir readers who enjoy a unique story. And couples contemplating adoption will learn the damage secrecy can lead to, and with hope, this book will ensure that they will be the ones to talk to their adopted children about their adoptions.


You can get a copy of Bonded at Birth in print or eBook through Amazon.

About the Author

Gloria Oren was born in Brooklyn, New York. She hopes to inspire others considering a search to take the plunge and see what they discover. She has three grown children and lives in Redmond, Washington with her husband and their firstborn. She has a powerful perspective of finding positivity in experiences on life's roller coaster lurches that leave many in panic.

Oren is an editor for Muse It Up Publishing and also does freelance editing. When editing Gloria helps authors create the best book they can. She is the founder of the Facebook group Women Writers Editors Agents and Publishers which continues growing day by day and a member of the Redmond Association of Spokenword (RASP) and Society of Good Grammar (SPOGG).

Oren has also written two eBooks: Selling Yourself and Your Product: A Guide for Writers and Let Chocolate Be Your Friend: What Your Mother Didn't Tell You as a Child.

You can connect with Gloria:
http://gloriaoren.com
http://gloriascorner.com
http://familylinks.blog.com

My Review

If you're looking for a well-written memoir, then this book is a good read. Oren provides a pleasant retelling of her experiences - covering the major incidents of her life from birth through adulthood. I enjoyed reading of her experiences as a Jewish child in Brooklyn and abroad. As a genealogy/family history nut, I enjoyed learning of the joy she continues to find through researching her roots. 

Based on the description of this book, I went into it expecting a much fuller account of Oren's adoption and the journey of finding her birth family. I wanted to learn the details - the "story" as I like to call it - of her process. I wanted to feel her pain and re-live her journey of longing and searching and waiting for answers. What I found was more of a basic memoir with a side-note about adoption. (She didn't really recount much about the "search" until about 80% through the book.) I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just not what I expected. If I was an adoptee searching for my birth family, I think I would find great comfort in hearing how well she's integrated back into her birth family's life. However, if I was looking for tips or support or motivation as to where and how to look, I think I'd probably walk away wanting.