A passionate and revealing examination of the unethical processes taking place within the U.S adoption system today.

Written by the director of an adoption agency and the author ofThe Children Money Can Buy, The Baby Marketillustrates the dramatic changes that have taken place in infant adoption over the past two decades, resulting in what feels like a wild west of adoption in which money is the might that makes right and the law is very hard to find. The book follows the true stories of women who choose adoption for their babies, some of them making this choice multiple times. There are also stories from adoptive parents who relate their experiences with scams, disappointments, emotional and financial exploitation, and the dubious assistance of baby brokers. The process of adopting a baby involves struggle, uncertainty, and even heartache but, for many people, somehow manages to end happily when birth and adoptive parents create connections that respectfully and even joyfully meet their need for one another.The Baby Marketprovides welcome encouragement and much needed information about how to avoid the numerous pitfalls inherent in adoption and offers suggestions for the reform of a corrupted adoption system.

Anne Moodyhas been the co-director of an agency specializing in infant adoption for the past 24 years. She is the author ofThe Children Money Can Buy: Stories from the Frontlines of Foster Care and Adoption, published in 2018 by Rowman and Littlefield. She is also an adoptive parent and both her professional and personal background inform her work as an adoption specialist who advises clients on all aspects of the adoption experience.

Glossary

Introduction

The Vagaries Of The Market PlaceOwen and Kira: An Adoptive Family StoryWhy Is Adoption So Hard?Lindy: A Birth Mothers StoryWhere Does All the Money Go?Yes, Its LegalMiddle MenJulia: A Single Adoptive Mothers StoryBirth Mothers In The Media Did Birth Mothers Change? What Will We Tell the Children? What About The Siblings? Matt and Hannah: A Foster-To-Adopt Story What About All the Kids In Foster Care? Working With The Child Welfare System Not To Scare YouBut Adoption Specialists Adoption Reform Closing the Gray Market

Afterword