A powerful and honest account based on three decades of true-life experience Award-winning The Branches We Cherish weaves together thought-provoking, joyous, and poignant reflections of four birth parents, birth grandmothers, adoptive parents, and two adopted children. In 1992, Linda and David long to have a child. They decide to adopt a baby and learn they can only do so under an open arrangement where the biological parents and the adoptive family know each other's identities, and choose to remain in contact after the adoption is finalized ... possibly for life! There are no ready answers to their many questions: What happens in the first year? Twenty years later? What does visitation between birth and adoptive families look like? Will it be awkward to raise a child with the birth parents in the picture? How do adopted children feel about this open arrangement? In the early 90's there is little guidance for long-term relationships between adoptive and birth families, so Linda and David have to learn as they go. Diving in with open hearts and open minds, they build relationships based on mutual trust, respect, deep gratitude for one another, and most importantly, unconditional love for a child. They learn just how important having the children's birth parents and families in their lives is for everyone's emotional health—including their own. Discover the challenges of open adoption and the extraordinary gratification available to all members of the adoption constellation when they are willing and able to cultivate and maintain these lifetime relationships.

"...more than anything, I want her to know that her past is a part of her story she could not control, but her future can be anything she wants it to be."Since she was just a teenager, Ashley Banion knew that she would some day adopt a baby. Adoption was always something she felt called to do. She wasn't sure where this feeling was coming from or why she felt it, but in the summer of 2017, she would finally have some of the answers she had been praying for.A Beautiful Moon Waiting is a story about Ashley and her high school sweetheart, Vince, and their journey through international adoption. It is a true roller coaster ride, with ups and downs and twists and turns all along the way. This story is filled with excitement, joy, and love, with a touch of sorrow, grief, and heartbreak, truly drawing at every possible emotion. Ashley will talk about her experience of dealing with anxiety and depression, and how she was able to conquer those demons that tried to destroy her during her journey to meet her beautiful daughter, Everly. There will be moments when you laugh out loud and moments that have you reaching for the tissue box. Ashley very candidly shares her story of becoming a first-time mom in a foreign country and learning on the fly, a sentiment that can be shared with any first-time parent."...sometimes a stormy sky can be beautiful, but even when it's not, remember that once those storm clouds roll out, there is always a beautiful moon waiting."

We were not pursuing adoption when we came across a picture on my sister's bulletin board. In the picture were two little girls sitting in a toy car. The picture, though cute, did not initially pull me in, but as the day wore on, there was a pressing in of one simple question. "What about you?" Six months later, we were on a plane heading for Uganda with $12,000 sewn in on the insides of our shirts!

The baby is screaming again. My baby. I hoist her off the narrow hotel bed--again--and try to cradle her as I rock my torso back and forth in an uncomfortable straight-backed chair. This baby does not cradle. She doesn't know how to cuddle, to be soothed in anyone's arms. She howls and arches away, squirms and flops, a sixteen-pound fish out of water. I'm not used to holding babies, and she's not used to be being held, but when I try to put her down, she wails. My arms feel chafed, raw, and my wrists ache from the hours of straining to hang on to her. Huge tears pool in her eyes. These tears could break my heart. These screams could break my eardrums. After years as a temporary college instructor with no real home—her family and longtime friends scattered—Nancy McCabe yearned to settle down, establish a place she could call home, and rear a child there. A tough academic job market led her to accept a position at a church-connected college in the deep South, a move that felt like an uneasy return to the conservative environment of her childhood that she thought she had left behind. McCabe had many reservations about rearing a child alone in this climate, but the desire to become a mother would not go away. Meeting Sophie tells the story of McCabe adopting a Chinese daughter and the many obstacles she faced during the adoption and adjustment process as she renegotiated her role within her family and fought difficulties in her job. Especially poignant is her struggle to bond with a sick, grieving baby while in a foreign country during political unrest—followed, upon her return to the U.S., by a devastating loss and a career crisis.

Maria Kelmis was adopted from Greece at the age of fifteen months. She always knew she was adopted and considers it one of the best things that happened in her life. Golden Strangers is a story about a journey to find her biological mother specifically to thank her and tell her that she had a wonderful life. You will experience the great moments in Maria's life that may not have happened if she was not adopted from Greece. Journey with Maria to San Diego, California, as a young lady out on her own for the first time, share her multiple visits to Greece including the months she spent on the island of Santorini painting, travel with her to Uganda, Africa, as she embarks on the experience of a lifetime, and share the excitement of participating in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. All these events combined with her biological mother's sacrifice have made Maria thankful for all of the blessings in her life and have given her the desire to give back in so many ways; from working and volunteering with the Greek Orthodox Church, to helping the homeless, volunteering with autistic children, and becoming a certified life coach, thereby helping people with their life goals. This book is not only for people who share her story of adoption, it is for anyone who loves to hear a great story and believes in a power greater than all of us that makes things happen in our lives. If you have adopted a child or know of someone who has, you are encouraged to buy her children's book, Rainbow Bridge, which is a book for parents to read to their children of any age to let them know that they were adopted and that they are special and loved, also published by AuthorHouse.

Not Exactly As Planned is a captivating, deeply moving account of adoption and the unexpected challenges of raising a child with fetal alcohol syndrome. Linda Rosenbaum’s life takes a major turn when her son, adopted at birth, is diagnosed with irreversible brain damage. With love, hope and all the medical knowledge she can accumulate, she sets out to change his prognosis and live with as much joy as she can while struggling to accept her new reality. Not Exactly As Planned is more than a story of motherlove. It’s about birdwatching, bar mitzvahs, the collision of ’60’s ideals with the real world, family secrets and woodcarving.