A Face Like Mine

Recent celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Madonna and Sandra Bullock have thrust adoption into the news. This book is about my adoption. A Face Like Mine is about feeling unloved, rejected, abandoned and different. My older adoptive Jewish family did not understand me. I learned of my adoption at age six when my beloved dog, Tippie, died and my mom said she'd go to the pound, get another dog, and adopt it just like she adopted me. From that day on I was destined to find my birth family. A Face Like Mine begins when, at age thirty-five, my husband and I hired a detective to find them. He did. Though my Christian birth mother had passed I did meet my birth father, sister and brother. My blood siblings, along with aunts, uncles, and cousins were all blissfully unaware of my existence. I was the well-kept family secret. Ultimately, finding my birth family calmed the anxiety that had manifested itself in my life-long struggle with bulimia, anorexia and alcohol dependence. These self-destructive behaviors are chronicled throughout my memoir. Finding my roots enabled me to love myself and others.