May 26, 2014

photo by Gerard McGovern

What are your criteria for choosing subjects? Purely intuitive on your part?

This is not going to be easy.  I am limiting it to 15 stories because I want some depth and not just single page stories with a photo.  I want a lay out that allows people to understand why and how the process effected life choices from the time of relinquishment to now.   I want to be able to know about reunions, if there has been one.  These are complicated issues and other cultural issues come into play.  I want to cover as many domestic issues as I can.  I want a group that is diverse in many ways including race, ethnicity and class.   So I will interview 25 or 30 women and then choose the ones that placed together help to make as complete a story as I can.

May 27, 2014

I have been doing more research this week, reading more on line as well as reading peoples' stories and watching videos.  This issue of adoption is very complex.   The language used to describe it is controversial and it is all so highly emotional.  I have to take breaks.  Another challenge is focusing in on the original mothers.  The information about adoptees is much more available, whereas, mothers are quieter.
There are some really good sites out there for original mothers.

1. Musings of the Lame; Claudia Corrigan Darcy
2. (Birth Mother) First Mother Forum
3. A Girl Like Her; Ann Fessler

these are just a few, there are many more and there are a lot of interesting people doing really interesting work to help original mothers.   There are also really good collections of birthmother/original mother stories including The Girls Who Went Away, Ann Fessler and  The Other Mother, Carol Schaeffer. 

I have also spent sometime reading Lost Daughters (thelostdaughters.com).  Although written about adoptees it is very important and informative for moms, too. 

Please, if you have a book that you think others should read, list them in the comments of this blog. 

And please, if seeing more information out there on original mothers is important to you, back my Kickstarter.com project.  If you go to Kickstarter.com and type in Greenfield, Ma. you will find my project and video and a way to donate.   I would be very appreciative. 

For those of you who have already done so, thank you so much!