When the Bough Breaks

Arms flailing, my adopted son George attempted to punch me, but instead he gained purchase on the cross I wore, and it flew off into a corner of the room. For years after, I was left with a souvenir of the tracks of his fingernails down my chest. When I adopted a little boy from Romania, I thought I was giving my son a brother and saving the life of a needy innocent. Instead, George came to us a like a wild animal hidden in the body of a boy. I’m not a victim and I’m not a hero. I’m just a mom who got plunged into a nightmare and lived to tell the tale. When the Bough Breaks sheds a light into that dark tunnel, where there seems to be no end to our children’s troubles. This is my truth as I remember it. Welcome to my journey. --amazon.com.

Nancy Ferraro is an attorney and the mother of two boys, one of whom was adopted from Romania with severe disabilities. After almost a decade of advocacy and research, she placed her son George in a group home, where he is thriving, growing, and participating in family life. She writes of her experience as the main caregiver in the family, as most American mothers are, and bearing the burden of guilt and responsibility when things go awry.