An adoptive father and award-winning journalist reports on the metamorphosis of adoption, from a secretive, shameful process to an integral part of-and catalyst for change in-American family life. . Adoption, once a clandestine process shrouded in shame, is rapidly evolving into a radical new form that is both sweeping the nation and changing it. It is accelerating our transformation into a more multicultural and multiethnic country, even as it helps redefine our understanding of family. But negative stereotypes still remain, and new problems-mostly stemming from the corrosive influence of money-are becoming pervasive. Adoption Nation provides valuable insight into the pleasures and perils of adoption, while laying out the ways in which policymakers should revise our laws to improve the process, stop treating members of the adoption triad as second-class citizens, and remove the obstacles that keep the children who most need permanent homes from getting them. Filled with up-to-the-minute information and a wealth of dramatic real-life stories, Adoption Nation is essential reading for adoptive families, for anyone contemplating adopting a child, and for everyone touched by this extraordinary cultural transformation.