Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging
Julie is adopted. She is also a twin.
Book Description:
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 eight 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.
Reviews for the Book
“An engaging, endearing chronicle of a woman’s quest to find her origins.” —Kirkus Reviews “The award-winning Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging by Julie Ryan McGue is a compelling, poignant memoir about the search for truth and belonging.” —Readers' Favorite “With reverence for mystery, Julie Ryan McGue navigates a silence among family known and unknown to unearth her identity. Twice a Daughter is an act of patience and courage—the courage to confront the past and the patience to endure the path toward revelation. Weaving together humor and pathos, McGue’s tale of redemption offers hope to anyone seeking to know and be known as they truly are.” —Jonathan Callard, writer and teacher at the University of Pittsburgh
About the Author: Julie Ryan McGue
Julie Ryan McGue was born in Chicago, Illinois. She and her identical twin sister were adopted together. Julie’s debut memoir is about the search for birth relatives. She writes about finding out who you are, where you belong, and making sense of it. Her weekly blogs focus on identity, family, and life’s quirky moments. If she’s not at her computer writing, she’s out exploring with her camera, or on the tennis court. She is the mother of four adult children and splits her time between NW Indiana and Sarasota.
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