Lorraine Dusky

In her memoir Hole in My Heart, Lorraine Dusky skillfully challenges societal norms surrounding adoption, weaving personal experiences with political insights to spark crucial social change. She provides a comprehensive perspective, encompassing her own grief as a “first mother,” her daughter's emotions, and the adoptive parents' fears, all while seamlessly incorporating cited facts about adoption practices and the excruciating need for nationwide unsealing of records.

As a forensic genealogist specializing in finding biological parents through autosomal DNA testing, Dusky’s story gives valuable insight into the societal pressures for 1960s unwed mothers to place their children up for adoption. Her explanation of the history of adoption described with social context is woven throughout her story which adds helpful background information.

Dusky draws the reader into her story by flawlessly weaving her romantic and exciting life as an ambitious young journalist who falls helplessly in love with her married coworker resulting in an unplanned pregnancy with the tenacity of a determined investigative reporter studying the complexities of the adoption practices of a stifling society.

The memoir reflects on the shame experienced by unwed mothers in the 1960s and advocates strongly for adoption law reform. More like lyrical prose rather than a rant, Dusky spells out in a colorful recollection the details of her experience.

In conclusion, Hole in My Heart is a compelling memoir that challenges perceptions about adoption and lends insight regarding adoption reform. It sheds light on the emotional complexities of adoption, emphasizing issues of loss, guilt, emptiness, isolation, abandonment, and identity, making it a must-read for all.

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Hole in My Heart: Love and Loss in the Fault Lines of Adoption by Lorraine Dusky is a powerful and thought-provoking memoir. Dusky illuminates how traumatic adoption can be, for all involved. She references countless studies and educates on the many ways adoption may affect one's life. Ways that I would have never thought of. Dusky is a skilled storyteller, as painful as telling her story must have been. When I received this book, I looked forward to learning about something I knew nothing about. I was emotionally invested and learned through the entire book. I appreciate Grand Canyon Press and Lorraine Dusky for the LibraryThing giveaways copy.… (more)