Research Catalog

The girls who went away : the hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade

Title
The girls who went away : the hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade / Ann Fessler.
Author
Fessler, Ann.
Publication
New York : Penguin Press, 2006.
Supplementary Content
  • Contributor biographical information
  • Publisher description

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JFE 07-2488Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
354 p.; 25 cm.
Summary
This book brings to light the lives of 1.5 million single American women in the years following World War II who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced to give up their newborn children. It tells not of wild and carefree sexual liberation, but rather of a devastating double standard that has had punishing long-term effects on these women and on the children they gave up. Single pregnant women were shunned by family and friends, evicted from schools, sent away to maternity homes to have their children alone, and often treated with cold contempt by doctors, nurses, and clergy. The majority of the women interviewed by Fessler, herself an adoptee, have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives.--From publisher description.
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
My own story as an adoptee -- Breaking the silence -- Good girls v. bad girls -- Discovery and shame -- The family's fears -- Going away -- Birth and surrender -- The aftermath -- Search and reunion -- Talking and listening -- Every mother but my own.
Call Number
JFE 07-2488
ISBN
  • 1594200947
  • 9781594200946
LCCN
2005058179
OCLC
62593825
Author
Fessler, Ann.
Title
The girls who went away : the hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade / Ann Fessler.
Imprint
New York : Penguin Press, 2006.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Connect to:
Table of contents only
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
Added Author
hg CFT/CML
Research Call Number
JFE 07-2488
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