Parents at Last: Celebrating Adoption and the New Pathways to Parenthood

By Wendy Wilkinson

In the tradition of the bestselling Sisters and Mothers & Daughters, this touching book of portraits and reflections captures the spirit of those who beat the odds to create a family. 35 photos.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 060960290X
• ISBN13: 9780609602904
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.3" x 0.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Focus on love - no matter what form your family takes.

With their fingers on the pulse of American life, the authors of "Parents At Last" have captured the essence of the most important challenge facing us today - creating and nurturing families. While the media focuses on the breakdown of the family, this book focuses instead on creating family in its many forms - adoptive families, blended families, families who experience the wonders of cutting edge technological fertility. Through it all the underlying truths of family shine through: humor, communication, and most of all, love.

A compassionate book filled with hope.

This book offers hope & compassion to many people with the goal of creating a family. As the Mother of a stillborn son 18 months ago and with added discouragement of not yet conceiving again at age 35+, this book offers hope that there are alternatives to building my family should I need to go that direction. It's nice to know that I'm "not alone" in this quest. It was also wonderful to hear about the book on the "Today" show; that's what prompted me to purchase it.

HIGH PRAISE FOR PARENTS AT LAST!

In October, I was privileged to attend an elegant gallery opening in LA to launch a beautiful new photo essay book, PARENTS AT LAST: Celebrating Adoption and the New Pathways to Parenthood, by Cynthia Peck and Wendy Wilkinson and featuring the heart-felt images of an accomplished photographer, Helen K. Garber.As an attorney who practices adoption and surrogacy law, I am always looking for that "perfect" book to enlighten myself and recommend to my clients. I have found it in PARENTS AT LAST. PARENTS AT LAST provides hopeful parents and others with personal stories about the joys and rewards of building a family by an alternate route. Each story reminds us of the absolute miracle of bringing a child into this world and the resplendent wonders of raising a child, however, where ever, and by whomever the child is conceived. The challenges and the joys faced by each family in PARENTS AT LAST offer well needed comfort, support, and promise to readers preparing themselves for their journey and validate their choices for their family and friends---and ultimately, for their children, too.PARENTS AT LAST is the collaborative effort of several exceptional talents, bringing together an ideal mix of seasoned and experienced backgrounds in the authors, Cindy Peck and Wendy Wilkinson, and the photographer, Helen Garber. Together, they present readers with the full spectrum of adoption and assisted reproduction possibilities. They provide intimate and vivid portrayals of same sex and single parent adoptions; adoptions of older children and those with special needs; adoption by stepparents and older parents; international and interracial adoptions; surrogacy; anonymous donor sperm insemination; and egg donation, in one case, by the recipient's own sister.The personal autobiographical accounts of the parents are not only enlightening and enriching; they are also poignant and poetic. I have been so moved by the stories in PARENTS AT LAST that I have found myself recounting stories and lines from the book to my family, clients, and peers, and strongly recommend PARENTS AT LAST as a "must read!"

Inspiring and thoughtful, it made me cry.

Loved this book. The tales of parenthood are inspiring and beautiful. How terrific that the authors keyed into the stories with compassion and hope. It's a book to be treasured.

Heartwarming

This book is a must for any person who has ever dreamed of parenting and encountered obstacles. It's a great book for those who want to read some heartwarming stories that are REAL!This book will definitely be given to many of the people on my Christmas List.