What do you think?
Rate this book
Through Adopted Eyes: A Collection of Memoirs From Adoptees
Through Adopted Eyes explores the world of adoption from the viewpoint of adoptees. Russian adoptee Elena S. Hall shares her own story and thoughts on the subject of adoption in addition to interviews from other adoptees of different ages, heritages, and perspectives. Whether you are an adoptive parent, curious about adoption, or an adoptee yourself, this unique collection of memoirs provides real insight into lives directly impacted by adoption.
297 pages, Paperback
Published October 26, 2018
8 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 7, 2022
I was looking for some adoptee content for families and accidentally read half the book instead. I greatly appreciate Elena for editing and organizing this book.
My biggest complaint would be that it would be helpful to have a few more perspectives from those adoptees who had are more difficult adoption experience. There were a few in there, but I hoped to have more, as adoption often can have a “savior” narrative surrounding it. I also know that there are some adoptees who are completely against adoption. I recognize, though, that with Elena’s goal of promoting adoption, many would not want to participate. That is 100% within their right, and Elena, in turn, had the right to refuse to publish any narratives.
The other wish that I had was more adoptees domestically and from foster care, as well as other countries that were not Russia. The book feels about half from adoptees from Russia, which makes total sense given Elena’s background - just would have been nice to have a bit more variety.
Overall, a good resource that amplifies adoptee voices - which is so rarely done, despite the fact that adoptees are most affected by adoption. Thank you, Elena.
My biggest complaint would be that it would be helpful to have a few more perspectives from those adoptees who had are more difficult adoption experience. There were a few in there, but I hoped to have more, as adoption often can have a “savior” narrative surrounding it. I also know that there are some adoptees who are completely against adoption. I recognize, though, that with Elena’s goal of promoting adoption, many would not want to participate. That is 100% within their right, and Elena, in turn, had the right to refuse to publish any narratives.
The other wish that I had was more adoptees domestically and from foster care, as well as other countries that were not Russia. The book feels about half from adoptees from Russia, which makes total sense given Elena’s background - just would have been nice to have a bit more variety.
Overall, a good resource that amplifies adoptee voices - which is so rarely done, despite the fact that adoptees are most affected by adoption. Thank you, Elena.
February 4, 2024
As an adoptee, I detested this book. It’s written from a very pro-adoption stance through a Christian worldview. Most of the interviewees, along with the author, are young enough to not have gone through the process of recognizing their trauma, much less dismantling it. About half, maybe more, or the stories are Russian adoptees in their early to mid twenties, are all Christians, and think adoption is amazing. Only ONE story told of negative and harmful experiences with adoption, and even that ended up with “but God saved me and life is good.”
A book purporting to be a collection of stories from adoptee perspectives needs to have a much wider lens, a more diverse set of voices, and be unbiased, for Chrissake.
That’s two hours of my life I will never get back.
A book purporting to be a collection of stories from adoptee perspectives needs to have a much wider lens, a more diverse set of voices, and be unbiased, for Chrissake.
That’s two hours of my life I will never get back.
June 22, 2021
I highly enjoyed listening to the various perspectives of the many adoptees represented in this book. As a prospective adoptive parent, I am eager to learn more about how adoption affects individuals as they grow and mature. While there are many excellent books written about adoption by psychologist and doctors, I think it is so valuable to listen to the voices of those who have experienced adoption firsthand. I so appreciate the vulnerability of the many adoptees represented here for sharing their stories. Thank you to the author for writing and compiling this book to help others learn more about the blessings and struggles that come with being adopted. I wholeheartedly recommend this book!
October 29, 2023
While it did portray views from adoptees, I don't think it gave a full picture of all perspectives.
December 9, 2021
This book allows a chance to hear from many, many adoptees, all of whom have unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. A must-read for anyone wanting to learn more about adoption.
September 23, 2019
A must read for anyone interested in learning more about Adoption. The author does an excellent job capturing a variety of stories, experiences, and perspectives!
November 24, 2018
Insightful. A must-read for adoptive parents.
November 25, 2018
I loved loved loved this! I believe anyone would love to read it as well. I never read a book that fast. And for me I personal had a deeper connection because of the topic. You would be missing out on a great read.
April 26, 2020
I read this for an Adoptive Moms book club and I will hold on to it to share a few of the stories with Emma over time, but it was too long, too many of the same story (an abundance of Russian adoptees) and I can’t stand finding editing/grammar issues in books. Glad I have the resource, would not broadly recommend. The author had more enthusiasm than skill.
May 11, 2024
Not recommended. Hall was adopted as a child from Russia and has only positive things to say about her own adoption. She sent a variety of questions to other adoptees for them to answer about their personal experience with adoption. There's a big focus on "are jokes about adoption ok?" because that's a particular sore spot for Hall. Most of the adoptees who responded are young: in their twenties or teens, with a few kids under ten interviewed by their adoptive parents.
Hall starts off by saying she hopes her book will encourage people to adopt. She gives lip-service to how people might have has bad experiences, but in the same breath encourages adoptees to thank their adoptive parents. There's a lot of toxic positivity in the chapters written by Hall herself. Many of the adoptees say they had a "better" life or a "chance at a better life" because they were adopted, and that doesn't sit well with me.
The religious messages also are also ... ick. God wanted me to look a certain way, so I was born to my bio family, but I was meant to be with my adoptive family.
Hall is explicit that the purpose of this book is to encourage more people to adopt. She thinks adoption is great, and doesn't mince words saying that more people should adopt. If you are going to read one book about adoption, this one should not be that book! Focusing on rainbows and unicorns stories of happy people glad that they were "rescued" and "given a better life" through adoption is not adequate preparation for people considering adoption.
Instead, I recommend "You Should Be Grateful": Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption, In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption, What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption: An Adoptee's Perspective on Its History, Nuances, and Practices, or something by Sherrie Eldridge.
Hall starts off by saying she hopes her book will encourage people to adopt. She gives lip-service to how people might have has bad experiences, but in the same breath encourages adoptees to thank their adoptive parents. There's a lot of toxic positivity in the chapters written by Hall herself. Many of the adoptees say they had a "better" life or a "chance at a better life" because they were adopted, and that doesn't sit well with me.
The religious messages also are also ... ick. God wanted me to look a certain way, so I was born to my bio family, but I was meant to be with my adoptive family.
Hall is explicit that the purpose of this book is to encourage more people to adopt. She thinks adoption is great, and doesn't mince words saying that more people should adopt. If you are going to read one book about adoption, this one should not be that book! Focusing on rainbows and unicorns stories of happy people glad that they were "rescued" and "given a better life" through adoption is not adequate preparation for people considering adoption.
Instead, I recommend "You Should Be Grateful": Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption, In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption, What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption: An Adoptee's Perspective on Its History, Nuances, and Practices, or something by Sherrie Eldridge.
December 7, 2024
I greatly appreciate the author’s heart in writing this book. There are not enough resources out there that elevate the voices of adoptees. As an adoptive mom, I deeply value the perspectives shared and the willingness of these adoptees to share their stories. However, I would have appreciated a wider variety of stories and backgrounds as well as positive and negative experiences. Overall, the book portrayed a very positive view of adoption. While I am obviously pro adoption as an adoptive parent, adoption is complex and we have much to learn from those with lived experiences of it, both good and bad. I also found the writing to be poor and fraught with grammatical errors, which made it less than a pleasant reading experience at times.
June 2, 2020
As an adoptee I found this book very insightful and comforting to know that I’m not alone in my thoughts and feelings towards my adoption. I related to many adoptees in this book but even the ones I didn’t added a great deal of value to my growing depth of empathy towards others. This is a must read for adoptive parents and those interested in adopting to help better understand and support adoptees. Highly recommend!
February 27, 2024
I appreciated the opportunity to read this book, but was disappointed in the collection of stories. It was very repetitive, with an emphasis on 'positive' adoptee voices, and seemed to shy away from those with a more critical perspective. I appreciate all of the adoptees who took the time to share their stories so vulnerably, but would have enjoyed this more were it more diverse and representative of the reality of adoptee experiences.
February 1, 2022
If you know one adoptee’s story, you know ONE adoptee’s story. As someone who is not adopted, the best thing I can do to support adoptees is listen and provide a safe space to process. It is not my job to tell them how they should feel about being adopted. I’m thankful for the stories shared in this book and the insight into what it’s like to live and grow and heal as an adoptee.
December 23, 2019
Great stories from adoptees.
May 7, 2020
Very good story, very thoughtful from others perspective.
January 9, 2024
Not sure how I felt about it...I liked hearing some stories but as a soon to be Adoptive Parent I feel like it increased my anxiety about some potential struggles our little one may face.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews