Articles
Evelyn wrote and published four books about adoption between 2000 and 2010. However, she has still been able to find time to write articles on topics which interest her. This is a selection of the articles which Evelyn has written over the years. Many of these articles have been published in Australia and around the world.
These articles may be accessed and copied at no charge. Over the years, Evelyn’s views have been described as ‘controversial’, ‘radical’ and ‘ground-breaking’. You are invited to read these articles and judge her work for yourself.
Title: Trust me – I’m a politician (2014)
Description: Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, announced in 2014 that he was going to make intercountry adoptions “cheaper, faster and easier” for Australians wishing to adopt. This contradicted what he said in his speech at the National Adoption Apology in 2013. If you have any difficulty accessing this article you may view it at https://independent.academia.edu/EvelynRobinson/Papers
Article: Trust me – I’m a politician
Title: The Australian Adoption Apology (2014)
Article: The Australian Adoption Apology
Title: Some thoughts on shame (2014)
Article: Some thoughts on shame
Title: Sinking the Mother Ship (2012)
Article: Sinking the Mother Ship
Title: My journey of healing and understanding (2012)
Article: My journey of healing and understanding
Title: Adoption in Australia (2011)
Article: Adoption in Australia
Title: Are we creating another stolen generation? (2010)
Article: Are we creating another stolen generation?
Title: Outsiders Within (2010)
Description: Outsiders Within is a book about the experience of being adopted into a family with a different cultural and racial background from the one into which one is born. Evelyn highly recommends it.
Article: Outsiders Within
Title: Intercountry adoption (2010)
Description: In March, 2009, Evelyn was appointed to the National Inter Country Adoption Advisory Group (NICAAG), which met regularly with the Australian Attorney-General’s Department to advise on policy and practice related to intercountry adoption in Australia. Evelyn attended her first meeting in March, 2010 and wrote this article after the meeting. This article was published in the Australian Journal of Adoption (Vol 2, No 1, 2010)
Article: Intercountry adoption – being part of the solution
Title: Dawn French (2008)
Description: In 2008, Evelyn read the book Dear Fatty, by actress Dawn French, who is an adoptive mother. Two years after writing the book, Dawn French announced that she and her husband, Lenny Henry, were divorcing.
Article: Dawn French (2008)
Title: Blue Eyed Son (2007)
Description: In 2007, Evelyn read a book called Blue Eyed Son, written in 2005 by Nicky Campbell. Nicky was adopted and decided, as an adult, to contact members of his original families. Evelyn found his description of his experiences harrowing in many places, mainly because of his lack of insight into the impact of adoption separation and reunion in people’s lives. Evelyn hopes that, since writing the book, he has been able to access appropriate counselling and education.
Article: Blue Eyed Son (2007)
Title: Foreword to The Stork Market (2007)
Description: In 2006, Evelyn was invited by Mirah Riben, author of shedding light on … THE DARK SIDE OF ADOPTION, to write the foreword for her second book, The Stork Market: America’s Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry, which was published in March, 2007. Information about Mirah’s books can be found at www.advocatepublications.com.
Article: Foreword to The Stork Market (2007)
Title: The story of Evelyn’s visit to Romania (2006)
Description: In February, 2006, Evelyn was invited by the Romanian Government to be a keynote speaker at a conference in Bucharest, Romania on The Rights of the Child. In this article, Evelyn describes how she came to be invited, provides a brief history of child protection issues in Romania and includes an outline of her experience at the conference.
Article: The story of Evelyn’s visit to Romania (2006)
Title: Evelyn’s presentation as keynote speaker in Romania (2006)
Description: In February, 2006, Evelyn was invited by the Romanian Government to be a keynote speaker at a conference in Bucharest, Romania on The Rights of the Child. This is her presentation, copies of which were made available to all attendees.
Article: Evelyn’s presentation in Romania (2006)
Title: Nobody’s Children? (2006)
Description: In February, 2006, Evelyn was invited by the Romanian Government to be a keynote speaker at a conference in Bucharest, Romania on The Rights of the Child. Another speaker at the conference was British journalist and adopted person, Kate Adie, author of a book called Nobody’s Child. In this book, Kate Adie expresses her support for laws which legalise the abandonment of children. This is Evelyn’s reaction to reading the book.
Article: Nobodys Children
Title: Learning about the outcomes of adoption (2005)
Description: Many adoptions took place in the 1960s and 1970s. Did anyone at that time know what the long term outcomes of those adoptions would be?
Title: Grieving the loss associated with an adoption separation (2005)
Description: Presented in Melbourne for VANISH.
Article: Grieving the loss associated with an adoption separation
Title: Use of intermediaries in adoption contact (2005)
Description: The advantages and disadvantages of using an intermediary to make contact with a family member from whom you have been separated by adoption.
Article: Use of intermediaries in adoption contact
Title: Some thoughts on The Adoption Reunion Handbook (2005)
Description: This book was published in the UK in 2004 and written by Liz Trinder, Julia Feast and David Howe. Evelyn was less than impressed by it.
Article: Some thoughts on The Adoption Reunion Handbook
Title: Rejecting the opportunity for reunion (2005)
Description: Many people say that they feel ‘rejected’ when a family member from whom they have been separated by adoption refuses to meet them or maintain contact. Is this really a rejection of the person?
Article: Rejecting the opportunity for reunion
Title: Adoption policy and practice in New Zealand (2005)
Description: Written after Evelyn’s second speaking tour of New Zealand.
Article: Adoption policy and practice in New Zealand
Title: The role of ritual following a loss (2004)
Description: Parallels between adoption reunions and funerals!
Article: The role of ritual following a loss
Title: Comparison (2004)
Description: For the first time a comparison has been drawn between current adoption policies and practices in North America and in Australia. This startling article points out the major differences in attitude and direction in these two parts of the world.
Article: Comparison
Title: The social construction of adoption (2003)
Description: Not every society frowns on illegitimate births. There is a community in an isolated area of China called the Moso. The Moso society is a matriarchal one in which there is no marriage and every baby born is welcomed, cherished and celebrated with pride, as a joyful addition to the family. A comparison of their culture with cultures in which there is a tradition of adoption highlights the fact that adoption is, indeed, a social construction, which has been created out of a belief system which attaches shame and guilt to sexual behaviour.
Article: The social construction of adoption
Title: Recognising the gift of pain (2003)
Description: Presentation at the CUB (Concerned United Birthparents) Retreat in Virginia, USA, October 2003. Pain can represent a gift to us, if we can only understand how to accept it. The experience of adoption loss can lead those affected to inform and strengthen themselves as well as others. We can gain strength, wisdom and compassion from facing the challenges which adoption bring to our lives.
Article: Recognising the gift of pain
Title: Learning from experience (2003)
Description: Written after Evelyn resigned from her position as Counsellor/Co-ordinator with ARMS (Association Representing Mothers Separated from their Children by Adoption ) in South Australia.
Article: Learning from experience
Title: A response to “The Colour of Difference” (2002)
Description: This article was written after Evelyn read a book called “The Colour of Difference”. The book is about the experiences of those who have been adopted into a different country or culture from the one into which they were born. In this article, Evelyn compares the issues for these people to the issues for those indigenous Australians who were removed from their families and became members of the Stolen Generation.
Article: A response to “The Colour of Difference”
Title: Some thoughts on pregnancy resulting from rape (2002)
Description: This article was originally written for the newsletter of Evelyn’s local rape and sexual assault service. Since this article was published in their newsletter, women who report a pregnancy resulting from rape are now given a referral to a post-adoption support service for mothers who have lost children through adoption.
Article: Some thoughts on pregnancy resulting from rape
Title: Tour 2001
Description: In 2001, Evelyn travelled for three months presenting at conferences and seminars. Evelyn left her home in Australia and presented on twenty-one occasions in New Zealand, the USA, Canada, England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is the paper which Evelyn presented in those locations to audiences totalling over one thousand people. One of those presentations was at the American Adoption Congress Conference, when Evelyn presented with Reuben Pannor, in Anaheim, California.
Article: Tour 2001
Title: Post-adoption grief counselling (2001)
Description: A version of this article was published in Adoption and Fostering, the journal of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), Volume 26, Number 2, 2002.
Article: Post-adoption grief counselling