Review: Twice a Daughter by Julie Ryan McGue

Twice a Daughter

by Julie Ryan McGue

Publisher: She Writes Press

Pages: 282

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Julie is adopted. She is also a twin. Because their adoption was closed, she and her sister lack both a health history and their adoption papers―which becomes an issue for Julie when, at forty-eight years old, she finds herself facing several serious health issues.

To launch the probe into her closed adoption, Julie first needs the support of her sister. The twins talk things over, and make a pact: Julie will approach their adoptive parents for the adoption paperwork and investigate search options, and the sisters will split the costs involved in locating their birth relatives. But their adoptive parents aren't happy that their daughters want to locate their birth parents―and that is only the first of many obstacles Julie will come up against as she digs into her background.

Julie's search for her birth relatives spans years and involves a search agency, a PI, a confidential intermediary, a judge, an adoption agency, a social worker, and a genealogist. By journey's end, what began as a simple desire for a family medical history has evolved into a complicated quest―one that unearths secrets, lies, and family members that are literally right next door.

Kritters Thoughts:  Julie is adopted and she is a twin, while thankful that she has had her twin by her side her entire life, she had wished for answers for awhile about her birth parents and her medical history.  A trip to a doctor and a push from her husband, Julie decides that now is the time to get answers and with the blessing from her twin, she starts the journey down many roads to get answers.

I can't imagine going as long as Julie and Jenny did in their lives without answers.  And I was thankful to read in this book that because they pursued the truth so hard they made changes as to how adoptions are handled and how information is handled for future children.  

There were many times while reading this book that I had to remind myself that this was all true - it could easily have had the makings of a great fiction book, but this was all true.  Julie and Jenny dealt with a lot of feelings from a lot of individuals and there were many moments where I wanted to "pull" someone aside and remind them that this isn't about them!  

I am thankful I read this book, it reminded me that I love reading true stories where authors pour out their hearts and soul and give us their truth in order to help others.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Books Forward.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.