tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post7771445447815878121..comments2024-03-27T20:48:39.389-04:00Comments on [Birth Mother] First Mother Forum: Adoption is a critical part of women’s historyLorraine Duskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18285341379272250245noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-78160891726830754472012-02-12T22:42:48.271-05:002012-02-12T22:42:48.271-05:00The book "Adoption Healing, a path to recover...The book "Adoption Healing, a path to recovery for mothers who lost children to adoption," contains a great deal of historical information regarding the Baby Scoop Era and surrendering mothers. You can also go to www.babyscoopera.com The Baby Scoop Era (like the term or not), is firmly established (see Wikipedia) and exists because at no other time before or since have so many newborns been removed from young, unprotected, at-risk "unwed" mothers, the overwhelming majority of which were white. There are other criteria as well.Karen Wilson Buterbaughnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-74747818819300453782012-02-09T13:52:36.587-05:002012-02-09T13:52:36.587-05:00Thanks Anon, for letting us know about Prof. Karen...Thanks Anon, for letting us know about Prof. Karen Balcom's important work. I read something recently about her new book "The Traffic in Babies: Cross-Border Adoption and Baby-Selling Between Canada and the United States, 1930-1972." I put it on my "to read" list but don't know when I'll get to it.Jane Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05669797756463841249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-32620785822921293422012-02-09T05:36:03.390-05:002012-02-09T05:36:03.390-05:00Jane wrote "There are exceptions. Ellen Herma...Jane wrote "There are exceptions. Ellen Herman, a University of Oregon history prof who teaches in women's studies, is an adoptive mother. She writes an online adoption history, The Adoption History Project. Although I don't recall that she uses the term "Baby Scoop Era", she does write about these events."<br /><br />Karen Balcom is another exception. Ellen Herman has positively reviewed Karen's book, published only last year and which includes coverage of the so-called BSE period.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-46841473314099250842012-02-08T20:44:45.324-05:002012-02-08T20:44:45.324-05:00Thanks for the additional information, maryanne.Thanks for the additional information, maryanne.Jane Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05669797756463841249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-69674294460423460132012-02-08T19:20:17.606-05:002012-02-08T19:20:17.606-05:00I don't think that jargon-like insider terms l...I don't think that jargon-like insider terms like "baby scoop era" help in getting our cause taken seriously by feminist historians and others. Which is not to say that there were not large numbers of coerced surrenders in the time between WWII and Roe V. Wade, but there is a lot more to the story. We need to get the stories, injustices, and numbers out there, but in a way that is mainstream and takes our own cause as seriously as it deserves.<br /><br />Babies were not "scooped" cute as that sounds, they were made a commodity that the market at the time demanded, and the idea of "reforming" or even "revirgining" bad girls caught on with social reformers who thought they were doing everyone a favor. <br /><br />Except it did not work, and large numbers of us suffered. Linking adoption with abortion, or implying that coercion ended with legalized abortion, has been a mistake, and another reason why feminists have not understood or taken us seriously. By and large they are so focused on abortion rights, and the rights of women not to be tied down by children, that we just do not fit that narrow focus. <br /><br />As seen even in comments here, not all mothers who surrendered are pro-choice, so to strictly tie the two issues together creates animosity and does not work. <br /><br />Yes, there are many adoptive mothers among feminist academics, and some of them would rather not deal with how adoption has caused grief to many women. The concept of an "era" that ended with legalized abortion diminishes the ongoing saga of abuse in adoption, making it a sepia-toned picture of "long-ago" and "wasn't that a shame" rather than the ongoing problem that it still is.<br /><br />There are some rays of hope though. Lee Campbell, founder of CUB, is working on a project with current CUB board members to compile as complete as possible a history and papers of CUB to add some already there at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard, among other women's history and women activists collections. The late Carole Anderson, former CUB president, left her papers to that library, and the papers of BJ Lifton are there as well. Jane has already mentioned Ellen Herman and her Adoption History Project. Slowly we are infiltrating academia, we just need to keep at it. Our stories at Harvard where generations of scholars can study them is no small thing.maryannenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-17739628813845673372012-02-08T18:30:08.877-05:002012-02-08T18:30:08.877-05:00I'd like to call our readers' attention to...I'd like to call our readers' attention to an excellent article by Katie Leo, a Korean adoptee, on how she came to the conclusion that adopting was incompatible with her commitment to feminism and social justice. <a href="http://www.womenspress.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=3238" rel="nofollow">Feminist Lens on Adoption</a>Jane Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05669797756463841249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-19092835513017932762012-02-08T18:13:58.409-05:002012-02-08T18:13:58.409-05:00Megan,
I believe it is common for profs in women ...Megan,<br /><br />I believe it is common for profs in women studies program to adopt and I suspect most are oblivious to the pain and exploitation common in adoption. I don't this is unique to BYU. These women may sincerely believe they are helping other women and children as well as meeting their maternal needs.<br /><br />There are exceptions. Ellen Herman, a University of Oregon history prof who teaches in women's studies, is an adoptive mother. She writes an online adoption history, <a href="http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption/" rel="nofollow">The Adoption History Project</a>. Although I don't recall that she uses the term "Baby Scoop Era", she does write about these events.Jane Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05669797756463841249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-91204131934427620962012-02-08T17:40:43.791-05:002012-02-08T17:40:43.791-05:00I am sick of people touting Roe v. Wade and killin...I am sick of people touting Roe v. Wade and killing babies as a good alternative to having your baby ripped from your arms. Ripping a baby from the womb is no better. <br /><br />Why must it be one evil or another? Women and children should be supported all along.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-38382123074471877712012-02-08T17:23:47.262-05:002012-02-08T17:23:47.262-05:00Lorraine,
Your comment of 3:56pm is exactly why fi...Lorraine,<br />Your comment of 3:56pm is exactly why first mothers should not just shut up and stay in the closet.<br /><br />"The kids were nonplussed; maybe none of them were adopted or wanted to say anything."<br /><br />Even if there were adoptees in the classroom they may very well have still been steeped in the adoption beliefs that their APs' had instilled in them. Being adopted is the same as being a bio-kid, we're your real parents, etc. These students are probably away from home for the first time and are just getting their footing as independent adults. They may not have found their own voices about what adoption means to them and how they feel about it.<br /><br />"But she certainly didn't know squat about issues other than how to get a kid, and why there should be more of them available."<br /><br />And of course giving no thought whatsoever to who is going to "produce" the product, er I mean children. <br /><br />I am intrigued, mystified and concerned about the noticeable blind spot that the women's movement and women's historians have about the real issues behind the BSE. Do you think this is because many people even today still think that all those relinquishments were voluntary? I don't see how anyone can deny that there was a BSE. It seems so glaringly obvious when you realize that of all the adult adoptees who publish comments here the majority of us were born within a 10-15 year period. Obviously, there were some very powerful social forces at play to have so many adoptees from one generation. To me these forces are one of the best indicators of women's second-class status at the times and how powerless women were.<br /><br />Robin<br /><br />P.S. There seems to be glitch with my comments so I'm putting this under Anon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-70200277817133915922012-02-08T17:13:23.481-05:002012-02-08T17:13:23.481-05:00I’m a firstmom from the BSE and feel strongly that...I’m a firstmom from the BSE and feel strongly that our stories need to be told. The more the better. Some adoptees , my firstborn included, continue to call us baby abandoners and accuse us of not wanting to raise our children. I was personally accused of willfully giving my child to strangers because I was selfish. Despite Fessler’s book and countless other stories, my child has not bought into the “no choice” explanation and the coercion tactics used. As might be predicted, our reunion relationship fizzled.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-58700804413436358722012-02-08T16:49:11.192-05:002012-02-08T16:49:11.192-05:00Yes, Jane women's bodies are still political f...Yes, Jane women's bodies are still political fodder. Sheesh with the Komen controversy over paltry Planned Parenthood funding and the wonderful Presidential candidates campaining to what ever way the wind blows, it's time to get our stories out there again. The February Sisters at the Univ. of Ks. (KU-where I attended in the late 1960's and where I have worked for 30 yrs.)are celebrating a 40 yr. reunion. This KU feminist organization came about 3 yrs. too late to prevent my first son to be coerced sight unseen from me. But the feminist groups US wide who are holding reunions like this one at KU will be hearing from me. ;-)Karen Dawberhttp://lookslikeuptome.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-11200062655237713642012-02-08T15:56:58.513-05:002012-02-08T15:56:58.513-05:00Interestingly enough when my husband and I visited...Interestingly enough when my husband and I visited Princeton for a day about a decade ago, we were able to attend classes with the prof's permission. I chose a gender studies class and whadda ya know, it was all about adoption (straight and gay) and the prof and the students were clueless that adoption might have issues for the adopted, much less the mothers who bore the children....I sat there pretty much going crazy until near the end of the class the professor said that it appeared I had something to add, and brother, did I. <br /><br />The kids were nonplussed; maybe none of them were adopted or wanted to say anything. I sent the professor material later about the OBC issue, birth mother's lingering sorrow, etc. but I never got any sort of an acknowledgment. I ended up assuming she was gay and wanted to adopt, or had already adopted. But she certainly didn't know squat about issues other than how to get a kid, and why there should be more of them available. <br /><br />So my guess is that the BYU and Princeton experiences are par for the (gender studies) course.Lorraine Duskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18285341379272250245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-20244991308571436612012-02-08T14:50:39.246-05:002012-02-08T14:50:39.246-05:00I mentioned to my daughter who is in the Women'...I mentioned to my daughter who is in the Women's Study program at Brigham Young University that she needs to read this post and show it to her professors.<br /><br />Interestingly, she said that most all of her professors have adopted multiple children internationally. <br /><br />Is it common for Academics in Gender Study to be adopters, or is that just a fluke of BYU? If not, perhaps that partially explains why the history of adoption has been overlooked.Meganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01386268512599829234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-85391882991814423572012-02-08T09:05:54.442-05:002012-02-08T09:05:54.442-05:00Thanks Jane.
There were two books one was listed...Thanks Jane.<br /><br /> There were two books one was listed the other wasn't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-30915488735107086322012-02-08T00:03:56.405-05:002012-02-08T00:03:56.405-05:00To clarify, Rickie Solinger wrote two books relate...To clarify, Rickie Solinger wrote two books related to adoption history. "Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race Before Roe v. Wade" and "Beggars and Choosers." Both are excellent.Jane Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05669797756463841249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-16131504172806750922012-02-07T22:00:58.327-05:002012-02-07T22:00:58.327-05:00The Traffic in Babies: Cross-Border Adoption and B...The Traffic in Babies: Cross-Border Adoption and Baby-Selling between the United States and Canada, 1930-1972.<br />University of Toronto Press (August 13, 2011)<br />Karen Balcom (Author)<br /><br />'Through a series of dramatic and compelling narratives, Karen A. Balcom effectively links the story of Canadian children adopted by American parents to central themes in the history of child welfare. Her examination of the practical and constitutional challenges that reformers faced in transnational family-making offers a powerful corrective to triumphal narratives about child-friendly liberal welfare states. The Traffic in Babies is both a very interesting read and a genuinely original contribution to the field of social welfare and adoption history.' (Ellen Herman, Department of History, University of Oregon )Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-15612739573474648462012-02-07T20:44:54.984-05:002012-02-07T20:44:54.984-05:00From the Post:
"Except for adoption specifi...From the Post: <br /><br />"Except for adoption specific histories—Ann Fessler’s The Girls Who Went Away, Rickie Solinger’s Wake Up Little Susie, E. Wayne Carp’s Family Matters, and Ellen Herman's The Adoption History Project, the Baby Scoop Era does not get the attention it deserves."Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-26093674709843063312012-02-07T19:24:58.951-05:002012-02-07T19:24:58.951-05:00You're absolutely right, Kitta. Adoption did ...You're absolutely right, Kitta. Adoption did not register on the feminist agenda and doesn't today other than many feminists are adopters or trying to be. <br /><br />I was a charter subscriber to "Ms" magazine. In the early 70's, I wrote a letter to "Ms" regarding an article about an adoptee. I told what it was like to be a birth mother. "Ms" did not publish my letter but did send me a condescending response. <br /><br />Feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem, the founder of Ms, were clueless about adoption. Steinem and others were part of a culture and class which used abortion to resolve unintended pregnancies. Many of these women, including Steinem, came out about their abortions.<br /><br />As Anon notes, Collins' book does not discuss the impact of illegal abortions and the horrors including death that women suffered. This needs to kept front and center if we are to fend off the constant attacks on "Roe v. Wade." Women's bodies are still fodder for political agendas.Jane Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05669797756463841249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-72259591877423703272012-02-07T18:54:56.358-05:002012-02-07T18:54:56.358-05:00Sollinger's titl wasn't in the post that&#...Sollinger's titl wasn't in the post that's why I asked, Courtney.<br /><br />Thanks Kippa I have that book bought it right after it came <br />out. <br /><br />I do find it interesting that the women's history on Era of <br />Mass Adoptions is not written about in many more books <br />it's what happened and not writing about it will not make<br />the truth disappear. Fessler's book and interviews with<br />the women in her book is in Women's Studies at Harvard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-45974287522423969752012-02-07T18:20:10.326-05:002012-02-07T18:20:10.326-05:00Rickie Solinger is also the author of "Beggar...Rickie Solinger is also the author of "Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States"<br /><br />(New York:2001)<br /><br />Interesting book....with mid to late 20th century information.kittanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-41157911385956074792012-02-07T16:59:20.550-05:002012-02-07T16:59:20.550-05:00Ummm. Ty, it's in the post.Ummm. Ty, it's in the post.Courtneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-61103822917841497302012-02-07T16:42:12.819-05:002012-02-07T16:42:12.819-05:00What is title of Sollinger's book?
TyWhat is title of Sollinger's book?<br /><br />TyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-76833667381737952552012-02-07T13:06:27.635-05:002012-02-07T13:06:27.635-05:00It does not surprise me that this book does not ad...It does not surprise me that this book does not address forced adoption in the US.<br /><br />Back in 1974 or so, I called a national women's organization and told them about my experience as a relinquishing mother in the 1960s. I told the woman on the phone that I had wanted my baby and wanted to keep him.<br /><br />I asked her," what is your organization doing now for mothers like me?"<br /><br />She thought for a few seconds, and then answered," well, that is why we have to make sure that abortion stays safe and legal."<br /><br />But, that was not what I had asked about...and I had made that very clear.<br />For a long time, "unwed mothers" did not seem to register on the "feminist agenda" and the fact of forced infant surrender was not seen as a problem to address, in my opinion.<br /><br />Rickie Solinger has addressed these issues in her books on women's history.kittanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-81701665109283526832012-02-07T10:22:25.486-05:002012-02-07T10:22:25.486-05:00From theadoptedones
Off topic but perhaps not...
...From theadoptedones<br /><br />Off topic but perhaps not...<br /><br />What is missed in the conversation is also how many women had abortions pre Roe vs Wade. Roe vs Wade did not provide the abortion option, it provided safe access. The dark side of the story is very sad and that reality does not have the doctors around to speak up about it - they have all passed away, my dad included who had to try to patch up women who came to him after the fact, if they came to him in time.<br /><br />Very sad that the book glossed over the horrors mothers went through. A time that must never happen again and all must work against.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-20872157150747187132012-02-07T10:19:06.644-05:002012-02-07T10:19:06.644-05:00I don't understand why is it so hard to get th...I don't understand why is it so hard to get the facts out?<br />Even with self published books is there any that talks about<br />Era of Mass Adoptions? <br />I am aware of Ann Fessler's book.Motherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04701407465248392373noreply@blogger.com