The Story of David

Despite its title, this is actually the story of Dion and Carey Howells, a childless Ohio couple anxious to adopt a child, and a pregnant 18-year-old named Nancy; ""open adoption"" is an arrangement whereby the adoptive parents and the child have some or full knowledge of the identities of the birth parents. With the help of a Catholic social service agency, Nancy and the Howells met and agreed to pursue such an arrangement. Writing with freelancer Pritchard, Howells details here his and his wife's anguish when they realized they were not able to have children, their joy at the chance to adopt and their emotional roller-coaster ride during the process. The Howells befriended Nancy several months before she gave birth and came to regard her as a member of their family. The account of her sense of devastation after David's birth and of the Howells's struggle to accept their own mixed feelings about becoming the parents of her child will have a sobering effect on readers considering this--or any other--adoption arrangement. Though the writing is often graceless, with a strong soapbox element, the story is still powerful. (June)