Disturbing Adoption: The Collected Pieces

DISTURBING ADOPTION: The Collected Pieces is about the impact of adoption separation on mothers and adopted persons, which also includes the rare perspective of the father. In one context, Disturbing Adoption: The Collected Pieces can be considered a sequel to Made in Australia: The Adoption Apologies. Five chapters are connected to the Apologies or the lead-up to their delivery. The opening contribution, Disturbing adoption appears as Dis- words in the booklet published for the Without Consent: Australia's past adoption practices exhibition, curated by National Archives of Australia and launched in March 2015. The final article is a 2015 reflection on the events covered by Made in Australia: The Adoption Apologies (2014) and their aftermath. In between, there are chapters of broader scope and those with a welcome personal perspective. DISTURBING ADOPTION: The Collected Pieces is Gary Coles' fifth book about the impact of adoption. Gary was a member of a select group appointed to guide the delivery of the (Australian) National Apology for Forced Adoptions. This is what readers have had to say about some of Gary's books: The Invisible Men of Adoption - 'This is a most valuable book, because of the breadth of research and writing it integrates, the clarity of its expression, and the seminal place it will play in helping us all to understand that the fathers of our children, by and large, have suffered as much as we did in losing them ... I would recommend this book not only to fathers, but also to mothers and those adopted, as well as to adoptive parents or social workers who quickly and cruelly dismiss the fathers of our children.' Sandra Falconer Pace, Canadian Council of Natural Mothers. The Invisible Men of Adoption - 'Easily the best review of adoption I've read to this point and the only one from the viewpoint of the birth father. Should be required reading for anyone connected with adoption professionally or personally.' The Earl on Amazon.com. 'At last a book about birth fathers written by a birth father! In Ever After: Fathers and the Impact of Adoption, Gary Coles has written an honest, articulate account of the experience of surrender and adoption from a perspective rarely presented.' Nancy Verrier, author of The Primal Wound and Coming Home to Self. About the Author: Gary Coles is a father. His first-born son was raised in New Zealand by adoptive parents. He graduated with BSc Honours, majoring in geology, from Victoria University of Wellington. He has spent most of his adult life living and working in Australia. Gary began exploring his adoption experience in 1992. He made his first presentation to an adoption conference in 1998, coincidentally in the city where his adopted son lives. Since then he has written extensively about adoption, particularly bringing the viewpoint of birth fathers into the discussions. He has published three books (in 2004, 2005 and 2010) in paper and electronic formats, plus another three as ebooks (in 2012, 2014 and 2015). Gary has published more than seventy papers and articles (1998-2015), made presentations at three Australian Adoption Conferences (2000, 2004, 2008), presented seminars in Australia and New Zealand and been a keynote speaker on three occasions for Concerned United Birthparents in the USA. Gary’s immediate past position was Manager of VANISH Inc, the Victorian post-adoption services and support organisation. Previously, he had been a VANISH service user and then he served as an office-bearer on the organisation’s Committee of Management. In 2012 he was appointed to the Forced Adoptions Apology Reference Group, responsible for advising the Prime Minister of Australia about the contents of the National Apology, delivered on 21st March 2013. In 2013 and 2014 he served on the Forced Adoptions Implementation Working Group. Gary continues to educate the public and the helping professions about the impact of adoption.