Adoption Story: A Son Is Given

A biological mother's change of mind after giving her child to adoptive parents is at the heart of this first-person account of a New York City family's adoption experience. The Ryans, unable to conceive a child, arranged to adopt at birth the son of Angelina Rodriguez, a Salvadoran domestic. Their joy at having Christopher/Lorenz was cut short when Rodriguez precipitated a drawn-out, convoluted court battle to recover custody of the child. Strengthened by a return to the practice of her Catholic faith, Ryan forged a delicate bond with the birth mother that allows them to co-parent. The author, now the mother of a second adopted son, ends her candid but somewhat sentimental account of this unusual adoption arrangement on a note of guarded optimism. (May)