Just before the death of his parents, author Tom Liotti, legendary lawyer and judge from New York, learned that he was adopted. In his heartfelt autobiography, Liotti shares the amazing story of how this knowledge impacted his life, his work, and his legacy. Liotti traces the lineage of his parents, Louis and Eileen, and then delves into his childhood. From his first days at kindergarten to being a collegiate swimmer and eventually a famous civil rights attorney, Liotti reveals how his parents always offered encouragement and support through every facet of his life, loved him unconditionally, and shaped his passion for social justice. But it was the discovery of his adoption that altered Liottis world, sending him down an uncharted path. He began searching for his biological parents, desperate to find his roots and know his heritage. No matter his findings, though, Liotti realized how each of us has limitless potential and that love has an infinite capacity to change the world. Gripping, honest, and real, The Secret Adoption brilliantly captures one mans incredible journey into the past and speaks to the resilience of the human spirit.

A New York Times Notable Book The shocking truth about postwar adoption in America, told through the bittersweet story of one teenager, the son she was forced to relinquish, and their search to find each other. “[T]his book about the past might foreshadow a coming shift in the future… ‘I don’t think any legislators in those states who are anti-abortion are actually thinking, “Oh, great, these single women are gonna raise more children.” No, their hope is that those children will be placed for adoption. But is that the reality? I doubt it.’”[says Glaser]” -Mother Jones During the Baby Boom in 1960s America, women were encouraged to stay home and raise large families, but sex and childbirth were taboo subjects. Premarital sex was common, but birth control was hard to get and abortion was illegal. In 1961, sixteen-year-old Margaret Erle fell in love and became pregnant. Her enraged family sent her to a maternity home, where social workers threatened her with jail until she signed away her parental rights. Her son vanished, his whereabouts and new identity known only to an adoption agency that would never share the slightest detail about his fate. The adoption business was founded on secrecy and lies. American Baby lays out how a lucrative and exploitative industry removed children from their birth mothers and placed them with hopeful families, fabricating stories about infants' origins and destinations, then closing the door firmly between the parties forever. Adoption agencies and other organizations that purported to help pregnant women struck unethical deals with doctors and researchers for pseudoscientific "assessments," and shamed millions of women into surrendering their children. The identities of many who were adopted or who surrendered a child in the postwar decades are still locked in sealed files. Gabrielle Glaser dramatically illustrates in Margaret and David’s tale--one they share with millions of Americans—a story of loss, love, and the search for identity.

This is a story about adoption. It is about direct adoption and family adoption. It also involves keeping a secret from one of those who is adopted. It forms a family secret that defines and destroys as it gets passed along. It is the story of my mother and her sister who get cast out into the cold and are taken in by family. However, they are split up by the family and live in two separate worlds. My mother is taken to California and never told the secret. Dorothy, mom’s sister, knows she is adopted and knows she has a sister. My mother is raised as the only child of the Haughts. She knows she was born in Ohio but knows nothing else. This is the way Norden and Mabel want it to be. They would be the only ones knowing the family secret. Mabel is paranoid that someone would find out and attempt to take Zona away from them. After mother learns the truth she takes on that paranoia. She lives and breathes it and it eventually takes over her life. Everything is done to protect that secret. Yet, when I turn 17 she decides it is time to tell me “the secret” and to take me back to meet my real aunt and uncle and cousins. This is a story of how the family secret transcends time and touches many lives. It is a story of how people react differently when told the secret. My cousins David, Barbara, and Joe are amazed that I just found out about them a few months before meeting them. They have known about me all their lives. They knew who I was and where I was and what all was going on. For me, all of that was shut out. I had to ask them tons of questions to find out about them. Even when doing my final research for this book I was still asking questions to all that were still alive. I am glad I went when I did because death would take the ones who knew the answers. Imagine if I would just now be finding all of this out at the ripe old age of 60? There would now be only a handful of people left to tell me and they would only have part of the knowledge. This secret has led me on many adventures. I am glad that I know the secret but sure wish it had come about differently. But then I would not have had to write this book. So welcome to Our Family Secret, My Mother’s Lie.

As I saw my new-born baby’s face for the first time I tried desperately to capture her face in my mind—to stamp it onto my eyelids. As she was taken from me I knew I might never see my daughter again. 38 years later… ‘You were adopted’. Three short words and Sabina’s life fractures. There would forever be a Before those words, and an After. Pregnant with her own child, Sabina can’t understand how a mother could abandon her daughter, or why her parents have kept the past a secret. Determined to find the woman who gave her away, what she discovers will change everything, not just for Sabina, but for the women who have loved her all these years. From the bestselling author of Me Without You comes another touching, beautifully told story about the pain of separation and the enduring strength of love. Find out what readers are saying about The Secret Daughter ‘I adored this novel. Absolutely, 100% adored it. Kelly Rimmer is a beautiful writer … The Secret Daughter packed such an emotional, powerful punch, one that I don't think I've felt before that I'll always associate with her novels from now on.’ Becca’s Books ‘Kelly Rimmer did an amazing job of telling such a heartbreaking tale. This story had me laughing, crying and hugging my daughter a wee tighter. I loved this story!’ Steph and Chris Book Reviews ‘This book had me on an emotional rollercoaster from the first words… The Secret Daughter is a story that will stay with you long after you have finished the book.’ Ask a Bookworm ‘This was a refreshingly different read which I would put in the same vein as Diane Chamberlain but this was even better than some of Diane's latest releases. This is no girl meets boy and falls in love read but rather a heartbreaking, beautifully written story based on true facts… I would highly recommend The Secret Daughter, a thought provoking, emotional story not to be missed.’ Shaz’s Book Blog ‘This was such a moving story, convincingly told. It is almost as though you are reading a memoir rather than a novel … a really compelling read and would definitely recommend it.’ Portobello Book Blog

Adoption is a controversial subject in the United States, particularly in the last 30 years. Why that is and how public attention affects the decisions made by those who arrange, legalise and experience adoption forms the subject of this book.

Late discovery adoptees have a lot of catching up to do... Susan was forty-three years old before she ordered a DNA test and learned the truth that she had long suspected: that she was adopted. By this time, the woman she had always called her mother, who had kept the adoption a secret, was dying, so Susan never got to talk with her directly on this important matter of identity. Then came the long, involved search for her half-siblings and her biological family roots, a roller-coaster of emotions that uncovered secret after secret, revealing truth after truth. At the climax of the book, she visits the building where she was born (when the building was a facility for unwed mothers) and makes a remarkable, almost magical connection with her deceased birth mother. She discovers, still stuck to a wall, a painting of a Christmas tree signed by her eighteen-year-old mother. The most important truth Susan learned from her quest was that she had been wanted and loved by both her mothers.

Childless couples in the twenty-first century have a number of options when they choose to adopt, but in 1936, options were fewer. There were few counsellors who could help advise those wanting to adopt. So Tommie and Minnie Brock set out to find a baby on their own and told only one person, their family doctor. The doctor connected them with a well-educated, bright, young woman, pregnant and willing to consider adoption. Then my adoptive mother and birth mother pledged in an oral pact to keep my adoption secret. For many years, no one spoke to me about my birth and adoption, and all I could find out was through some grapevine gossip. This book recounts the sequence of events in my life that led me to full disclosure of that agreement between my two mothers. My life with all its unanswered questions has been blessed beyond measure, showing that God is in control of our lives. I still know nothing about my birth father, but I am certain I have a heavenly Father, Who has made me His child by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, and has adopted me into His family with full rights of sonship.