The Invisible Men of Adoption – by Gary Coles
Product details
Paperback: 222 pages
Publisher: Self-published
ISBN: 9780646548487
Trim size: 195 x 130 mm
Synopsis
This book is about the fathers of children who were raised in other, adoptive families. Frequently, in writings about the separation of parent and child, the emphasis is on the mother and her son or daughter. The father is an absent, or at best a peripheral figure. The Invisible Men of Adoption brings the father into the open and accords him his proper place within the family of origin. Through this exposure of the ‘invisible men’, the reader will gain a full appreciation of what it means to be a birth father.
The Invisible Men of Adoption also explores and demonstrates the benefits of birth fathers being included in the mending of emotional wounds caused by the initial separation of the three family members. This key role for the birth father in a tripartite setting has not been addressed by anyone else in adoption literature.
The Invisible Men of Adoption is the culmination of Gary Coles’ writings about the place of birth fathers in adoption.
Reviews
This superb book provides a missing viewpoint in adoption—the viewpoint of the father of the children lost to 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
Australian Journal of Adoption
'Great Book. Highly recommended, as are all Gary’s books.'
Trevor Jordan, President of Jigsaw Queensland
' I can assure readers that reading The Invisible Men of Adoption will be rewarding, whoever you are.'
Gary Clapton, author of 'Birth Fathers and their Adoption Experiences'
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.
