Ann Fessler

A critique of the consequences of policies enforced after World War II prior to Roe v. Wade, written by an adoptee, describes how countless single women were compelled to give up their children and how their situations were devastatingly compromised by the growing sexual revolution, limited birth control options, unrealistic social standards, and the unavailability of safe abortions. 60,000 first printing.

The Hidden History of Women who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade

The Girls who Went Away

“A remarkably well-researched and accomplished book.” —The New York Times Book Review “A wrenching, riveting book.” —Chicago Tribune In this deeply moving and myth-shattering work, Ann Fessler brings out into the open for the first time the astonishing untold history of the million and a half women who surrendered children for adoption due to enormous family and social pressure in the decades before Roe v. Wade. An adoptee who was herself surrendered during those years and recently made contact with her mother, Ann Fessler brilliantly brings to life the voices of more than a hundred women, as well as the spirit of those times, allowing the women to tell their stories in gripping and intimate detail.

The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade

The Girls Who Went Away

Erin Darlyn

A heart-wrenching and poignant collection of accounts.

Wynter

The Girls Who Went Away is a must read for anyone with a remote interest in women's rights (ie. everybody). This is a story of the girls who have been swept away in the middle of the night to an institution, who have been lied to, who have been shamed and prosecuted by family and friends, who were told it was all their fault, who were silenced for decades, and whose lives were negatively affected by loss of their children. I cried multiple times while reading their accounts.

So why only four stars? The book is broken down into ten chapters, each dealing with a different subject around teen pregnancy in postwar America, societal pressures put on unwed mothers, and traumatic experiences the interviewees were subjected to upon delivering the babies. However, I found each account being too similar to justify such breakdown, which made them a bit repetitive. 

The main message across all interviews was strikingly common. When a young girl got pregnant out of wedlock, she was usually either forced to marry the father of her child or give it up for adoption. The parents of the girl usually saw this event as a personal tragedy, and were more concerned with what their neighbours thought than with the well-being of their daughter. She was forced to hide her condition until she could be moved to a maternal home, where she received no compassion from the nurses. Upon giving birth she was separated from her child, and a social worker convinced her to sign off on any paperwork required for adoption. This paperwork would often be obtained by illegal means and coercion, forever relinquishing any rights the mother had for her baby. Afterwards the girl's family acted like nothing happened, often leaving their daughter to grieve in silence. 

This is a powerful piece of work, and I admire Ms. Fessler for bringing such an important and often overlooked subject to light.

Everyone who wants to understand why the Adoption System is in fact an industry and the effects on the mothers. 

Yennifer Villa

Allison Blakeley

Although heavy-handed at points, I liked that this book offered some perspectives of women who had a story to tell.

Caroline Lewicki

"The Girls Who Went Away" is nothing short of amazing. The book tells the difficult tale of women who became pregnant during the 1950s and 1960s, pre-Roe v Wade. The women tell of the heartbreak, anguish, and pure torture of being forced to give up their own child and never knowing if they'd see them again. Fessler, an adoptee herself, brings the novel full circle with her own story of being adopted after her mother was one of the girls who was forced into a maternity home. 

I highly recommend this book. Easily one of the best I've read this year, maybe ever.

Dani C

Very intimate look at the lives of birth mothers and what their journeys looked like (and continue to look like in some cases, especially outside of America). Would've been a 4 star but the chapters often felt like they were repeating the same things as previous chapters or could've dedicated a paragraph on the chapter topic in another chapter instead of trying to draw it out. 
This is a MUST READ for anyone who is considering adoption or has had adoption as a part of their family's story (and I mean this from ALL points of view, not just the adopting parent).

Lindy

In this deeply moving and myth-shattering work, Ann Fessler brings out into the open for the first time the astonishing untold history of the million and a half women who surrendered children for adoption due to enormous family and social pressure in the decades before Roe v. Wade. An adoptee who was herself surrendered during those years and recently made contact with her mother, Ann Fessler brilliantly brings to life the voices of more than a hundred women, as well as the spirit of those times, allowing the women to tell their stories in gripping and intimate detail.

The Girls who Went Away The Hidden History of Women who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade

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