We really were uninformed about the world of adoption. Being a person who researches everything, I purchased a handful of books on adoption. As I trudged through most of them I became even more overwhelmed. In the end, this was the only book I found completely helpful and referenced it many many times during our adoption journey. In a nut shell, it is easy to read and covers THE most essential 'need to know' information on adoption, such as, different types of adoption, where to begin, how to select an agency/attorney, how to avoid scams, and most importantly, how to avoid incompetent and unprofessional agencies/individuals (very valuable!). Since adoption laws vary from state to state, this was a very helpful resource because it lists some critical adoption laws by state, such as, revoke periods and birth father rights. Although they don't advocate any particular method or agency, they do provide private and government resources and websites, which I found helpful. We now have our beautiful son, who is almost a year old (we adopted him at birth). Thanks to this book, we were fully prepared for the journey and it made it the most pleasant, wonderful one ever because we were fully prepared. But, if you're like me, you'll buy all the other books just in case, and find that this one was the only one you actually needed. I highly recommend this book.