Compiled by Filis and Marisa Catalina Casey, a mother and daughter
brought together by adoption, Born in Our Hearts is a heartwarming collection
of true stories weaving a rich tapestry of adoption experiences. Told
from various perspectives including birthmothers, adopted children,
and adoptive parents and relatives, these inspiring stories reveal the
challenges and joys of the lifelong adoption journey.
Chapters cover a number of relevant adoption issues such as: the pain
of letting go of a child; the wonderment of meeting "your"
perfect child halfway around the world; the challenges of adopting an
older child; watching a child's potential flourish; sibling rivalry
and bonding; integrating a child's culture into a new multiracial family;
finding peace in the search for identity, roots and unanswered questions;
and feeling the happiness and love that comes from forming a family.
AUTHORS’ BIOGRAPHIES
Filis M. Casey, J.D. is the Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance
for Children, Inc. (www.allforchildren.org) a non-profit, international
adoption agency with offices in MA, RI, NY, and SC. During her agency's
30-year history, Filis has helped create and expand over 5,000 families
across the United States and Europe including her own, adopting her
daughter Marisa at the age of three from Bogotá, Colombia in
1982. Filis Casey is also the Executive Director of the Alliance for
Children Foundation (www.afcfoundation.org), established in 2000 through
a leadership gift from an Alliance adoptive family. The Foundation serves
orphaned children in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America who because
of age or special needs are less likely to be adopted.
Marisa Catalina Casey graduated with honors from Brown University in
2001. From a young age, Marisa has volunteered at the Alliance working
on projects combining her interests in youth, adoption, education, Latin
America, and the arts. Photographing across the US and Latin America,
Marisa’s images have been published in The Providence Journal,
Brown Daily Herald, College Hill Independent, and two fundraising calendars
for the Alliance, as well as a publication she designed for CARE-Peru.
Continuing to collaborate with Filis, Marisa is currently working at
the Alliance for Children. Marisa is co-director, co-producer, and subject
of the documentary, The Colombia Project: Two Stories of Adoption.
Together, Filis and Marisa co-authored Born in Our Hearts: Stories
of Adoption (Health Communications, Inc., June 2004, $11.95, ISBN 0757301290),
a collection of personal essays on adoption from various contributors
including birthmothers, adoptees, and adoptive families. Filis and Marisa
are frequent speakers and presenters at adoption conferences and have
been interviewed for The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, CNN, NPR,
ABC, NBC, and CBS.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What was your experience with adoption previous to reading this
book?
2. Have your perceptions about adoption changed from reading this book?
3. Discuss the ways in which the media has influenced perceptions of
adoption both international and domestic.
4. Are you aware of any other books, articles, movies, or plays that
deal with the topic of adoption? How does the approach the authors take
in Born in Our Hearts compare?
5. Which story from Born in Our Hearts most stood out to you and why?
6. Which chapter did you relate to the most? Why?
7. What are some of the themes that run throughout many of the stories
in the collection? Are these themes universal or do they only apply
to adoption?
8. What did you learn about cultures different from your own?
9. Discuss what family means to you.
10. How would you write your own personal narrative regarding your own
family? Which chapter would it fit into?
11. Many of the stories in Born in Our Hearts touch on loss. Discuss
loss in the context of adoption.
12. Imagine you were told that you had been adopted and never knew it.
What thoughts would run through your mind? How would you feel? Are these
reactions similar or different to the experiences in Born in Our Hearts?
13. What would you say to a family member who approached you about adoption?
Has your answer changed since reading Born in Our Hearts?
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Please note that the additional resources listed below do not necessarily
reflect the opinions or endorsements of the authors or the publishers
of Born in Our Hearts.
A Child's Journey Through Placement
by Vera, MD Fahlberg
Adoption Is a Family Affair! What Relatives and Friends Must
Know
by Patricia Irwin Johnston
Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution Is Transforming
America
by Adam Pertman
The Adoption Resource Book
by Lois Gilman
Are Those Kids Yours?: American Families With Children Adopted
From Other Countries
by Cheri Register
Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents
by Deborah D. Gray
Cross Cultural Adoption: How To Answer Questions from Family,
Friends & Community
by Amy Coughlin, Caryn Abramowitz
Dear Birthmother
by Kathleen Silber
I Don't Have Your Eyes
by Carrie A. Kitze
Inside Transracial Adoption
by Gail Steinberg, Beth Hall
ITHAKA: A Daughter's Memoir of Being Found
by Sarah Saffian
Kids Like Me in China
by Ying Ying Fry, et al
The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to
Go Get Pregnant: An Adoption Story
by Dan Savage
LifeBooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child
by Beth O'Malley
The Lost Daughters of China: Abandoned Girls, Their Journey
to America, and the Search for a Missing Past
by Karin Evans
Love in the Driest Season
by Neely Tucker
The Other Mother: A Woman's Love for the Child She Gave Up
for Adoption
by Carol Schaefer
The Post-Adoption Blues: Overcoming the Unforseen Challenges
of Adoption
by Karen J. Foli
The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child
by Nancy Verrier
Raising Adopted Children: Practical Reassuring Advice for Every
Adoptive Parent
by Lois Ruskai Melina
Real Parents Real Children
by Holly Van Gulden
The Russian Word for Snow: A True Story of Adoption
by Janis Cooke Newman
Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother
by Jana Wolff
Shadow Mothers: Stories of Adoption and Reunion
by Linda Back McKay
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew
by Sherrie Eldridge
Twice Born: Memoirs of an Adopted Daughter
by Betty Jean Lifton
Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son: Abandonment, Adoption, and
Orphanage Care in China
by Kay Ann Johnson
“So after four weeks in Colombia we were home with
our sweet son, who was more than I had ever hoped for. He has brought
sunshine into the lives of everyone in our family. Our family in Colombia
adores him, and he has brought us closer in touch than we’ve ever
been in the past. Our family in the States is crazy about him, too, and
we couldn’t be prouder.”
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