In this out-dated book targeted to prospective adoptive parents, author Bruce Rappaport (director of founder and Executive Director of the Independent Adoption Center claims to be "the founder of the open adoption movement" (although adoption histories don't list his efforts so the claim is, to me, suspect).

An adoptive father himself, Rappaport identifies strongly with prospective adoptive parents who have come to adoption after struggling with infertility. His bias makes him effective at addressing common fears and concerns adoptive parents bring to the process but leaves his book wanting when it comes to serving expectant parents.

As any family living open adoption knows, there is no such thing as "adoption without tears" but this is the attitude that pervades the book making this a ready target for anti-adoption activists who say that open adoption was invented not to serve adoptees but to coerce women into placing their children. Rappaport downplays the grief of parents making an adoption plan, assuring the reader that open adoption goes a long way to make it all better. He also glosses over ethical concerns such as when he writes, "Adopting parents deserve to have the same wonderful experience of birth as biological parents. The bonds that develop in most open adoptions make this possible." This quote illustrates his bias towards prospective adoptive parents, towards placement plans and the book's inability to address open adoption ethics.

Finally the book does little to address the very real challenges families face after placement as they traverse the reality of open adoption. While his comparison of adoption to marriage and the subsequent creation of new relatives is useful, he says nothing about managing these new relationships. The book is also rife with examples of first parents who have no ambivalence about their decision, little grief, and love their children's adoptive parents without reservation.