Books published by Gayle Swift

The original version of this book launched in 2013. It earned many awards and adoptive families reported that it genuinely helped them explore and discuss adoption with their littles, in a way that kids felt supported and that also deepened their connection. This revised version reflects the latest in professional understanding of the complexity of adoption, the challenges of young adoptees, and the conversations and strategies that draw families together in support of one another. Wesley Blauvelt's dreamy illustrations are evocative and compelling. ABC, Adoption & Me (Revised and Re-illustrated) will warm hearts, deepen understanding of what it means to be an adoptive family and provide teaching moments that bring families closer, connected in truth, compassion, and joy. The book includes a parental guide to assist parents in mastering a nurturing approach to adoption complexity.ABC, Adoption & Me (Revised and Re-illustrated) introduces the concept of Adoption-attunement, a fifteen point strategy for parents and professionals that outlines the best ways to connect and support adoptees, adoptive families, and first families.

Being a teenager is tough enough. When you factor in the complexities and challenges of being adopted, it is exponentially harder. The graphic-style book, "We're Adopted. So What?" features five teen girls who share a huge thing in common: each of them was adopted. This shared experience draws them together yet the distinctions between their experiences are as unique as their personalities. Feisty, fun and outspoken, the girls tackle some tough topics. They share their thoughts and feelings being adopted, how adoption shapes their world and relationships, creates challenges, burdens them with curiosity, frustration, anger, and grief, and shows how they strive to blend together their biological and their adoptive worlds. Open adoption has become the norm for most contemporary domestic adoptions yet questions and complications remain for adoptees and their families. How can all these people cooperate to create healthy, supportive relationships that best support adoptees? How does a young adoptee balance their dual loyalties and connections? How do they weave the spectrum of their feelings, challenges, and experiences into a cohesive identity?We now recognize that connection to and respect for an adopted child’s biological roots is integral to an adoptee’s ability to successfully unify their dual heritage. Still, the concept of openness remains shrouded in apprehension, confusion, and curiosity. How is it possible for a child to have two sets of parents involved in their lives? Against this backdrop of openness, how do teens in international or “traditional closed” adoptions, feel about and deal with their lack of connection with birth families?This book overflows with practical suggestions for how to navigate the constantly changing seas that adoptees face. The influences of DNA are forever, just as the influence of the adoptive family’s nurturing will permanently shape the child worlds. The process is complicated and can be difficult to articulate. This book provides a way to spark these important conversations with families or friends. It validates and renders compassionate witness to the adoptee experience. 

Examining beliefs, practices, and Scripture to distill adoption policy steeped in Christian values and attuned to the needs of vulnerable children and their families, the authors focus on the historical practices, reviews current practices, and proposes revisions.