
The Girls Who Went Away
The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade
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Narrated by:
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Coleen Marlo
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By:
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Ann Fessler
About this listen
In this deeply moving and myth-shattering work, Ann Fessler brings out into the open for the first time the astonishing untold history of the million and a half women who surrendered children for adoption due to enormous family and social pressure in the decades before Roe v. Wade. An adoptee who was herself surrendered during those years and recently made contact with her mother, Fessler brilliantly brings to life the voices of more than 100 women as well as the spirit of those times, allowing the women to tell their stories in gripping and intimate detail.
©2006 Ann H. Fessler (P)2016 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew
- By: Sherrie Eldridge
- Narrated by: Rosemary Benson
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The voices of adopted children are poignant, questioning. And they tell a familiar story of loss, fear, and hope. This extraordinary book, written by a woman who was adopted herself, gives voice to children's unspoken concerns, and shows adoptive parents how to free their kids from feelings of fear, abandonment, and shame. With warmth and candor, Sherrie Eldridge reveals the 20 complex emotional issues you must understand to nurture the child you love.
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The glass is half empty.
- By stephen blackwell on 07-19-24
By: Sherrie Eldridge
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Suffer the Little Children
- The Harrowing True Story of a Girl's Brutal Convent Upbringing
- By: Frances Reilly
- Narrated by: Emma Lowe
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Frances Reilly and her sisters were abandoned by their mother outside Nazareth House Convent - a Belfast orphanage run by nuns. Little did they know the unimaginable cruelty they'd endure within its walls.
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So Much Pain
- By Vicke on 12-25-21
By: Frances Reilly
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This Is Not a Love Story
- A Memoir
- By: Judy Brown
- Narrated by: Sarah Rose Humphrey
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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A razor-sharp, hilarious, and poignant memoir about growing up in the closed world of the ultraorthodox Jewish community. The third of six children in a family that harks back to a gloried Hassidic dynasty, Judy Brown grew up with the legacy of centuries of religious teaching and the faith and lore that sustained her people for generations.
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More than a love story...
- By Margaret on 09-02-15
By: Judy Brown
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Adoption Unfiltered
- Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies
- By: Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Lori Holden, and others
- Narrated by: Sara Easterly
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Healing isn't possible, though, without first uncovering the hurts—starting with adoption's central players: adoptees, who are so often in pain, suffering from what the latest brain science validates as the long-term emotional effects of separation trauma. By encouraging others to vulnerably share their stories, the authors discover that adoptees aren't the only ones in the adoption constellation who are hurting. Birth parents regularly shut down after being shut out by adoptive parents.
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A must read / listen for any prospective adoptive parents
- By Mandy G. on 05-08-24
By: Sara Easterly, and others
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The Magdalen Girls
- By: V.S. Alexander
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Dublin, 1962. Within the gated grounds of the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Redemption lies one of the city's Magdalen Laundries. Once places of refuge, the laundries have evolved into grim workhouses. Some inmates are "fallen" women - unwed mothers, prostitutes, or petty criminals. Most are ordinary girls whose only sin lies in being too pretty, too independent, or tempting the wrong man. Among them is 16-year-old Teagan Tiernan, sent by her family when her beauty provokes a lustful revelation from a young priest.
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Wonderfully upsetting
- By Molly on 11-26-19
By: V.S. Alexander
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Stella's Story
- Thrown Away Children, Book 1
- By: Louise Allen
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better.
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Heartbreaking and wonderful!
- By Deb S. on 10-28-24
By: Louise Allen
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A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain
- By: Imani Perry
- Narrated by: Imani Perry
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
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Imani Perry’s Audible Original A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain tells the dramatic story of her ongoing struggle with lupus—an autoimmune disease that attacks multiple organ systems—and what we can all learn from those who are grappling with chronic illness. It’s a powerful and poetic story that evokes the works of Susan Sontag, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Audre Lorde.
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Powerful
- By Melissa Medley on 03-11-23
By: Imani Perry
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Before and After
- The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society
- By: Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of 15 adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots.
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Badly written
- By Stacie on 02-25-20
By: Judy Christie, and others
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The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
- By: Emma Carey
- Narrated by: Emma Carey
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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For years, Emma Carey was a regular young adult who would wake up and go about their day on autopilot, someone who would look at a sunset and feel unaffected, someone who was living, but not really alive. That is, until something happened that enabled her to really see life for the gift it is. Emma was in a skydiving accident that made her a paraplegic. This book is not just about Emma's fall from the sky and how she learned to walk without ever regaining feeling in her legs but also about the beliefs and ideas that helped her survive.
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incredible ans inspiring
- By Sarah Anderson on 05-28-25
By: Emma Carey
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Ada Blackjack
- A True Story of Survival in the Arctic
- By: Jennifer Niven
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In September 1921, four young men and Ada Blackjack, a diminutive 25-year-old Eskimo woman, ventured deep into the Arctic in a secret attempt to colonize desolate Wrangel Island for Great Britain. Two years later, Ada Blackjack emerged as the sole survivor of this ambitious polar expedition. This young, unskilled woman - who had headed to the Arctic in search of money and a husband - conquered the seemingly unconquerable north and survived all alone after her male companions had perished.
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Great true story
- By Michael L Benken on 03-22-22
By: Jennifer Niven
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And Then We Hit a Rock
- A family of 5, a dog, and a cat move onto a sailboat. Hilarious true story!
- By: Greg Buenzli
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Did you know that the remora fish will try to swim up a whale shark's butt when they poop? The crew of Twig didn't. It turns out there was an awful lot the family of five didn’t know when they decided to move aboard and set off for adventure on the high seas. After decades of dreaming, and planning, the explorers finally sailed off into the sunset. Yes, they found the palm trees and coconuts they had longed for, but they also glimpsed the other side of paradise. They ran from waterspouts, dodged hurricanes, got (sort of) robbed by pirates, and played chicken with naval warships. They ...
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Truly a Fun Listen
- By NRo on 05-26-25
By: Greg Buenzli
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The Asylum
- By: Ann Cusack - contributor, Carol Minto, Joe Cusack - contributor
- Narrated by: Fiona McNeill
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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For 46 years, Carol Minto has quietly gone about her life, carrying with her the most extraordinary and heartbreaking secrets. In The Asylum, Carol tells the full story of how she overcame unimaginable suffering, to find the happiness and solace she has today as a mother and grandmother.
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Couldn’t stop listening
- By Tonya Copeland-Stone on 06-12-22
By: Ann Cusack - contributor, and others
wow....I am an adoptee and a birthmom
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A fantastic read!
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This is a good book to read if you are adopted.
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Greatly Increased My Understanding and Compassion
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Just incredible
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Thank you!
A must read for birth moms and adoptees!
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Wow
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I would say that I was pro-adoption before this book however after reading, it makes me believe that there really is no such thing as ethical adoption and that there needs to be reform and more services to keep biological families together. I understand that sometimes that is not possible, but I think that a lot of times it could be with the proper support.
Must Read for Adoptive Parents.
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Fantastic book
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A Heartbreaking but Necessary Listen
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