Rudy Owens’ memoir on the American adoption experience
It has been more than three months since I published my memoir on the U.S. adoption experience. I have found readers in the United States and abroad. Comments from my most valuable critics, my readers, continue to be positive.
Here are what a few of them have written on Amazon.com, one of the sites where my book is available in paperback and ebook format. In the end, a writer’s story will only matter if it connects with a reader in a personal way and if the writer’s story resonates with another person. It appears, so far, that I am passing that test. For that, I am grateful to those who have believed in the story of this adoptee and millions of others who are denied the rights many in this country take for granted.
LostinBooks, June 15, 2018
Rudy Owens’ examination of the legacy of closed adoption and its effects on adoptees is compelling and devastating. … You Don’t Know How Lucky YouAre opened my eyes to many experiences of adoptees that I was blind to before, although I shouldn’t have been, especially the injustice of being refused basic information about yourself or of being made to feel guilty for wanting to look for kin. I placed a child for adoption many years ago and have grieved for that baby ever since. Rudy’s book also helped me understand how much I was influenced by the prevailing attitudes towards illegitimacy and adoption during my pregnancy. His extensive bibliography lists many resources that were critical of separating mothers and children, or of sealing adoption records, that were published even before I relinquished my child so long ago. How I wish I’d read them then! Thank you to Rudy for this powerful call to action.
Bill: Aug. 19, 2018
You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are is a real American adoption story unlike most that have ever been told. In his book, Rudy Owens, a Detroit-born adoptee, describes the challenges and struggles of trying to answer the ultimate question: who am I? The story of Rudy’s own personal journey of self-discovery is interwoven with the history of modern-day adoption as practiced both within and outside of the United States. Rudy details the accompanying belief systems and policies surrounding adoption and how they have evolved over time. Rudy believes many of these practices and policies, some of which are still firmly in place today, have not always served the best interests of birth families and their children given up for adoption. Though you may not agree with the author on all of his views, this book will undoubtedly make you think more critically about adoption and how it is still being practiced today in the United States. This is a must read for anyone interested in the topic of adoption. It helps explain what it is like for many to have been placed in a completely unrelated family shortly after birth, and then ever after, being greatly restricted and at placed at a real deficit to establishing any real connections with those of greatest relation—biological family.
Anna, Aug. 23, 2018
A massive thanks goes to the author for highlighting this topic that doesn’t yet get the amount of attention it should. The book is a good mix of scientific research and personal memoir. Millions of U.S. adoptees experience a shocking amount of legalized discrimination built on a foundation of unsubstantiated claims and stereotypes about their character. The vast majority of states in the U.S. deny adoptees access to what many take for granted such as uninhibited access to birth records, medical history, and perhaps most importantly, kindred connection and the knowledge of one’s self. Highly recommended for anyone interested in adoptees rights and the ability to transform millions of lives for the better.
