Title: Twice a Daughter
Author: Julie Ryan McGue
Published: May 2021, She Writes Press
Format: ARC Paperback, 282 pages
Source: Booksforward PR
Summary:
Julie is adopted. She is also a twin. Because their adoption was closed, she and her sister lack both a health history and their adoption papers―which becomes an issue for Julie when, at forty-eight years old, she finds herself facing several serious health issues.
To launch the probe into her closed adoption, Julie first needs the support of her sister. The twins talk things over, and make a pact: Julie will approach their adoptive parents for the adoption paperwork and investigate search options, and the sisters will split the costs involved in locating their birth relatives. But their adoptive parents aren’t happy that their daughters want to locate their birth parents―and that is only the first of many obstacles Julie will come up against as she digs into her background.
Julie’s
search for her birth relatives spans years and involves a search agency, a PI, a confidential intermediary, a judge, an adoption agency, a social worker, and a genealogist. By journey’s end, what began as a simple desire for a family medical history has evolved into a complicated quest―one that unearths secrets, lies, and family members that are literally right next door.
My thoughts: Nonfiction is a genre I don’t read a lot of but I find that memoirs helps to bridge that gap. Being able to get an inside glimpse into someone’s life and get a new perspective is always so eye-opening and while I might think I don’t have anything in common with the author, I always end up finding something that resonates with me.
As soon as I saw this book by Julie Ryan McGue I just knew I wanted to read it. While the adoption story was intriguing, it was more the issue of not having a medical history that really drew me to this story. I come from a large family and know how important it is to know everyone’s medical history and keep passing it down the line, so I can only imagine the frustration that Julie must have felt in not being able to access hers.
After a health scare, Julie realizes that she needs her complete medical history and she and her twin sister embark on a search for their birth parents. I admired Julie’s tenacity in not giving up her search for her birth parents after hitting road block after road block. It highlights the stark contrast in the adoption laws regarding the right to know their birth details versus the rights of privacy on the side of the birth parents. There were hard conversations to have with her adoptive parents and support wasn’t always there. Luckily Julie and her sister made a great team and her husband and her kids were always there for her.
This book was such an eye-opening read and I appreciated just how open and honest the author was each step of the way with how she was feeling – it is definitely written from the heart. If you enjoy reading memoirs, I highly suggest picking this one up.
