Finding Families, Finding Ourselves traces the history of adoption in English Canada from the nineteenth century to the 1990s. Each chapter directs readers to a particular set of individual stories--childrearing, legislation, class relations, gender, religion, ethnicity and race, Aboriginal-settler contact, international exchanges, and (re)connection--that shaped and informed the thinking and practices of adoption as they emerged over the years. Relying on public records rather than interviews, author Veronica Strong-Boag examines a number of diverse sources including legislation, the popular media, royal commissions reports, biographies and autobiographies, and fiction and poetry to provide an unexplored vantage point from which to assess the overall development of adoption as a central and all too often under-appreciated institution in English Canada.

Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. 'Beyond the Nuclear Family: Childrearing in English Canada'; 2. 'Setting the Rules: Adoption and the Laws'; 3. 'Class Matters'; 4. 'Gendered Lives'; 5. Religion, Ethnicity and Race'; 6. 'Native-Newcomer Contact'; 7. 'Foreign Affairs'; 8. 'Origins and Destinations: Connecting Individuals and Communities'; Conclusion

Veronica Strong-BoagUniversity of British Columbia