American Baby

Starred review from March 1, 2020
A searing narrative that combines the detailed saga of one unwed teenage mother with deep research on all aspects of a scandalous adoption industry. Glaser--a journalist who covers health and culture and whose previous book, Her Best-Kept Secret (2013), investigated women and problem drinking--describes the life of Margaret Erle, who grew up in 1950s Manhattan as a strong student and well-behaved Jewish girl devoted to her family despite a constantly harping mother and a tender but weak father. As with many girls at the time, Margaret understood little about anatomy or sex. She and her boyfriend, George Katz, felt certain that they would remain together forever, and in 1961, Margaret became pregnant at the age of 16, which infuriated their parents. Though women had begun to assert their rights more openly by this time, Margaret was still "part of a growing demographic of young women who for decades would feel shame, and stay silent." From this point, the author, whose own Jewish faith informs the narrative, offers a consistently engaging, skillfully presented, nearly year-by-year account, aided by open cooperation from Margaret. The book derives from a 2007 newspaper feature Glaser researched about David Rosenberg, the son Margaret and George had been forced to surrender to a shady adoption agency in 1961. David had been adopted by a loving couple, and he knew nothing about his biological parents. When he required a kidney transplant, finding a donor became complicated. His transplant led to a series of articles (and eventually this book) about the outcome, including the developing bond between David and an unrelated donor identified almost miraculously through a Jewish network. Throughout, the author deftly follows this genuinely human story, exposing the darker corners of adoption in 20th-century America. In 2006, Ann Fessler's The Girls Who Went Away lifted the curtain on the plight of other women just like Margaret, and Glaser accomplishes an equally impressive feat here. In a narrative filled with villains, a birth mother and her son exhibit grace. A specific story of identity that has universal appeal for the many readers who have faced similar circumstances.

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April 1, 2020

One of the dark sides of the baby boom was an increase in teen pregnancy, the response to which from many families was to hide girls away in grim facilities. Agencies coerced girls to give their babies for adoption under penalty of juvenile detention and social censure. On the other side, they lied to prospective adoptive parents about the history of the babies, coupled with allowing unethical research practices and racist ideologies. Glaser (Her Best-Kept Secret) tells this story through the lens of one specific mother, Margaret Erle Katz, and her son that she was forced to give up, David Rosenberg, whom Glaser met at the end of his life and inspired the writing of this book. Her interviews allowed her to re-create the story, dating back to how Margaret and her husband George's families had lost much of their families in the Holocaust, a past shared by David's adoptive parents. Combining personal tragedy and overall history, this book evokes sympathy for a wide swath of mid-century American women. VERDICT In addition to content related to adoption, which should be of wide interest, this book will engage readers interested in Jewish social practices in mid-century America.--Margaret Heller, Loyola Univ. Chicago Libs.

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Starred review from October 19, 2020
Journalist Glaser (Her Best-Kept Secret) chronicles the forcible separation of a young woman from her infant son, and their much-delayed reunion, in this sweeping and novelistic account. In 1961, 16-year-old Margaret Erle is sent by her outraged parents to a maternity home after becoming pregnant. There, she is bullied by the administrators into giving up her son, Stephen. Renamed David by his adoptive parents, he grows up to become a popular cantor in Portland, Ore. Glaser meets David in 2007 and learns what little family history he knows: he’s adopted, and, in poor health, wants to find his birth family. In 2014, she receives a phone call from him after he'd successfully reunited with his mother. Inspired by David’s story, Glaser starts looking into the history of adoption and uncovers a larger story. Post-WWII, she finds, an “adoption-industrial complex” transformed adoption from a largely informal process into an impersonal and secretive one intended to spare both teenagers and their families embarrassment. In capturing the meeting between Margaret and David as his health rapidly declines due to cancer, Glaser delivers more than just the story of “a lifelong separation and a bittersweet reunion,” and the well-paced narrative is made stronger by Glaser’s ability to write with intensity about a harsh reality. This is a page-turning, illuminating work. (Jan.)Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated the author helped David find his birth mother.

November 1, 2020
Margaret Erle was a heartbreakingly naive 17-year-old when she was bullied into giving up her newborn son in New York City in 1961. Like thousands of other unwed mothers, she was packed off to a remote institution during her pregnancy and gave birth in secrecy. Margaret and her son's father, George, were truly in love and went on to marry and have other children, but because of draconian sealed adoption policies enforced by social agencies and state governments, they lost all contact with their firstborn. Glaser (Her Best-Kept Secret, 2013) painstakingly researched Margaret's story, and here wraps it around a social history of adoption, exploring evolving cultural and political views about motherhood. She shows how orphan trains and baby farms gave way to corporate private adoptions, and documents the years-long legal battles wrought by adoptees and birth parents trying to access their personal histories. In her prologue, Glaser reveals a bittersweet ending: thanks to a home DNA test, Margaret was reunited with her son (Glaser's personal friend) as he battled cancer. Young women like Margaret were instructed to forget that their pregnancies had ever happened. This book is a testament to the mothers who never forgot their children, and searched for them with love and longing.Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020

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