This book examines the adoption process in Great Britain, recounting first-hand experiences to take the reader through each stage of the process from the adopter's point of view. The book also examines the success and failure of several types of adoption. The chapters are: (1) "You Want to Adopt"; (2) "First Meetings, First Months, Falling in Love"; (3) "Adopting Babies and Toddlers"; (4) "Adopting Schoolchildren"; (5) "Taking on an Adolescent"; (6) "Adopting a Child with a Physical or Learning Disability"; (7) "Adopting an Emotionally, Physically or Sexually Abused Child"; (8) "Unusual Adopters for Unusual Children: Single Parents, Unmarried and Gay Couples, and Adoption over Birth by Choice"; (9) "Adoption and Race"; (10) "Openness in Adoption"; (11) "Adopted but Unattached"; (12) "The Nightmare: When an Adoption Breaks Down"; (13) "Telling, Talking and the Need to Know More"; (14) "Tracing"; (15) "The Birth Mother's Story"; and (16) "The Adoptee's Story." Three appendices list well-known adopters and adoptees, present a legal guide to adoption in Great Britain, and list British adoption organizations and organizations offering support to adoptive families. (KB)