Twice a Daughter

Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging | Julie Ryan McGue

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Always drawn to twin stories, McGue‘s memoir focuses on the search that spans years for her and her sister to track down their biological parents in the hopes of having, at a minimum, more family medical history. Well-performed and a surprising pageturner, I couldn‘t stop listening! I also wasn‘t expecting such a strong local connection! Sure to lead to lively discussion!

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Megabooks

Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging | Julie Ryan McGue

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Julie and her twin sister Jennifer were placed for adoption as newborns. It was 1959, and adoptions were mostly closed and birth mothers were often ashamed. (See ā¬‡ļø¸) When Julie starts to have health problems in middle age, she goes on a journey to try to get health history and maybe meet her birth parents. Her adoptive parents are not supportive and she faces other obstacles, but she also finds some great helpers. An incredible multi-year journey!

Cinfhen

Megabooks (1/2) This is a great look at what birth mothers went through in the 1950s & 60s. This mainly follows Christian adoptions, including Catholic Services where Julie and Jennifer were adopted from. (In the US, adoptions were often done by religion and race back then Catholic, Protestant, Jewish ā¬‡ļø¸, etc.)

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

(edited) 3y

Megabooks (2/2) For a deeper look at Jewish adoptions, check out this book. It looks at the agency, birth mothers, and adoptees.

American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption

(edited) 3y

alisiakae Oh, I definitely want to read this! My aparents actually just met my bio grandmother this past weekend. They were not supportive of my search for birth family, so this was a huge step years in the making. 3y

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Cinfhen Wonderful review š’Glad you enjoyed the journey 3y

Tamra I will have to check this out! As an adoptive parent, I can understand the hesitation, but we embrace any contact we can have with birth parents. I have enormous respect and gratitude for them. I do realize each family & circumstance is different and there needs to be healthy boundaries. 3y

Megabooks @4thhouseontheleft Oh wow! That‘s amazing! I think you will enjoy reading about Julie‘s journey. š’ 3y

Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks for the tip dear friend! š 3y

Megabooks @Tamra yes! That‘s one of the most interesting thing about adoption memoirs - how unique each family is! One of my first cousins is adopted, and it was hard for my aunt and uncle when he first made contact with his birth mom, but now everything has settled down. 3y

Reviewsbylola I loved the books you tagged so I‘ll check this out! 3y

Megabooks @Reviewsbylola yes! I remember you enjoying the other ones. This is a great memoir! 3y

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Cinfhen

Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging | Julie Ryan McGue

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A solid memoir and listening experience. Julie & her twin Jenny were adopted together in 1959 and knew very little about their birth parents. At the age of 48, Julie has a health scare which sends her on a journey to discover her birth family‘s medical history. This book raises lots of good questions about parents rights for privacy vs children‘s rights for knowledge. #NetGalley Available Now!!

Eggs Good point: rights vs rights, esp. med/psychological infoš™š¸» 3y

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Cinfhen

Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging | Julie Ryan McGue

Thanks to some serious jet lag, I‘m getting lots of early morning listening time šˇ§An #AudioArc #NetGalley about twin sisters who were adopted together in 1959 but at the age of 50 decide to seek their birth parents. Narrated by author, so far it‘s gripping. You might like this one @Megabooks

Megabooks Oh yeah! This is right up my alley! 3y

Megabooks Just started this on audible! Very much enjoying it! 3y

Megabooks Maisy has given me dog fever! She comes back tomorrow, and then I can‘t believe I‘ll have to wait until Tuesday to see her again. I‘m going to look at the shelter in Indiana on Friday. š¤˛š¸» there‘s a little floof ball with my name on it! š’š¶ 3y

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Cinfhen Yay!! I was thinking that the long weekend separations might be difficult for youā€¦so glad you‘re going to try shelter rescue š™¸š¸¼š™¸š¸¼š™¸š¸¼ @Megabooks (edited) 3y

Cinfhen I‘m enjoying this book too!! I‘m about 60% in and I‘m eager to see how the story plays out. This is my first time reading about closed Christian adoption from a Catholic orphanage/ it‘s very interesting @Megabooks I‘m glad you picked this one up too!! Where did you find it!!!?? 3y

Megabooks @Cinfhen it‘s available on audible, but it‘s a professional VO artist and not the author narrating, so maybe that‘s changed. š¤·š¸»ā€¨ā™€ļø¸ 3y

Cinfhen Hmmm, interesting @Megabooks maybe it‘s not the author reading and I‘m mistaken!! How‘s Maisey??? 3y

Cinfhen Ohhh, I was wrong @Megabooks It is professionally narratedš¤¦š¸¼ā€¨ā™€ļø¸ 3y

Megabooks Maisy is good!! She left about an hour ago. I think she‘s going to have a growth spurt because she spent most of the day asleep. It was fun to have her snuggle and we still went on walks. At one point, she was trying to rest her head on the water bowl to sleep! (We have one of those never spills, so it didn‘t make a mess. I learned that lesson a long time ago!) 3y

Cinfhen Maisey sounds so sweet!!! I‘m so happy she‘s bringing light & joy to your house @Megabooks 3y

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