Part 1: Even Now by Karen Kingsbury
In this novel about the long-term ramifications of unplanned pregnancy, adoption is a sub-theme, mentioned primarily as the main characters’ alternative to becoming teen parents.

However, and this is a big however, this novel deals extensively with the emotional upheaval and conflict that occurs within families when teenagers get pregnant. There’s the moment when the young woman and her boyfriend learn they are pregnant. There’s the moment when they are faced with revealing their pregnancy to their parents. There’s their parents’ reaction to the devastating news.

And there’s everything that comes afterwards, as the pregnant couple decides how their future will look, either with or without a baby. Their decision is complicated by the advice and outright manipulation they receive, primarily from their parents.

Although several of the plot elements seem farfetched, Kingsbury does an admirable job at delving into the emotions of the pregnant teens, the respective parents of the pregnant teens, and the daughter the teens give birth to – both during the pregnancy and during the ensuing 18 years.

While this book is a bittersweet read, I think it’s an important novel for all members of the adoption triad to read. Birth parents (or those contemplating placing a baby for adoption) will relate to the complex emotions the teens face as they work through the reality of their pregnancy.

Adoptive parents will gain a greater understanding of and empathy for birth parents – for the tough decisions they face during and after their pregnancy, and for the loss and grief they experience when they are separated from their child.

Adopted people will connect with the daughter the teen parents birth, as she tries to fill in the missing pieces of her life, to connect with her birth parents, and to serve as an agent of reconciliation within her extended family.

Adoptive mom Karen Kingsbury includes adoption themes in several of her books. At my Web site, www.laurachristianson.com, you can read reviews of Ocean’s Apart and her non-fiction book, A Treasury of Adoption Miracles.

My Web site also features a three-part profile of Karen Kingsbury that details her personal adoption story.