"Mamalita," by Jessica O'Dwyer

"Mamalita," by Jessica O'Dwyer

This gripping memoir details an ordinary American woman’s quest to adopt a baby girl from Guatemala in the face of overwhelming adversity. At only thirty-two years old, Jessica O’Dwyer experiences early menopause, which seems to seal the deal on whether or not she’ll ever become a mother. But years later, married but childless, she comes across a photo of a two-month-old girl on a Guatemalan adoption website—and feels an instant connection. After a year of efforts to adopt the girl, her adoption agency abandons her; undaunted, Jessica quits her job and moves to Antigua so she can bring her little girl to live with her and wrap up the adoption, no matter what the cost. Eventually, after months of disappointments, she finesses her way through the complicated adoption process and is finally able to bring her new daughter home.

Mamalita is as much a story about the bond between a mother and child as it is about the lengths to which adoptive parents go in their quest to become parents. At turns harrowing, heartbreaking, and inspiring, this is a classic story of the triumph of a mother’s love over almost insurmountable odds.

What a super book this was.  It's an easy read, plus a gripping read that hooks you from the beginning. It beggars belief that the adoption and government officials could treat people so badly, as all it does is hurt the children and the adoptees parents.

This book shows you how far a parent, whether a biological parent or an adoptee parent will go to protect their child. You cannot believe how much bureaucratic red tape can tangle up everything, and at the end of the day they couldn't have cared less about the poor child in the adoption.

The way Jessica describes the fight to get her daughter to love and accept her as her mother was so heart warming and made it abundantly clear Jessica was put on this earth to be a mother of this child.

I wasn't overly surprised at how some people had to bribe their way through the process to get their child home.  This book doesn't put Guatemala in a good light which is such a shame.  If though you are considering adoption, this is a book I would recommend so you don't go into the process naive.

Stars out of 5 : 5 Well worth the read and a book that makes you think, about a mother's love for her child, adoptions and how not every Government in this world is trust worthy.