Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging Spiral-Bound | May 11, 2021
Julie Ryan McGue
Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging
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.
2022 International Book Awards Winner in Parenting & Family
2022 International Book Awards Finalist in Best New Nonfiction, Nonfiction: Narrative, and Women’s Issues / Women’s Studies
2022 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
2021 CIBA Nellie Bly Book Awards Finalist
2021 NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Personal Growth
2021 NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
2021 Living Now Awards Gold Winner in Memoir—Female
2021 Nonfiction Book Awards Silver Winner in Biography & Memoir—General
2021 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction: Relationships
Indiana Press Award Winner in Memoir
2022 BooksShelf's Nonfiction Writing Contest Honorable Mention
“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
“Rarely does an adoptee rights advocate and legislator have the chance to witness the results of their efforts in such a profound and personal way as in Twice a Daughter. Julie’s success in opening her sealed adoption records did not just gratify and inspire, it lifted me up! Every adoptee deserves to know their identity, the first chapter of their life, and the circumstances of their birth. It is their personal story and a basic human right. Keep up the fight!”
—Sara Feigenholtz, adoptee and Illinois State Senator
“Julie McGue’s quest memoir is an extraordinary account of a woman’s midlife search for her birth parents and the medical history she and her twin sister desperately need. Julie engagingly narrates a roller coaster ride of challenges and triumphs. I was moved by this suspenseful tale that ultimately celebrates the meaning of family in all its forms.”
—Joelle Fraser, author of The Territory of Men and The Forest House
“This book is about lies and secrets, disappointment and loss, and hope and wonder. A true story that details how the pursuit of truth and healing becomes the alchemy that turns pain into gold.”
—Sara Connell, author of Bringing in Finn
“Why didn’t my birth mother keep me? Was I a bad baby? Do I have siblings? What about my medical history? These are some of the universal questions asked by adoptees both young and old. Although a memoir, Twice a Daughter is also the tale of every adoptee’s search for answers, connection, relationship, and family. It’s a must-read for all members of the adoption triad: birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees.”
—Nancy Golden, cofounder of the Midwest Adoption Center
“A masterful storyteller, Julie Ryan McGue probes her inner life as one of an adopted pair of twin sisters who are on a search for biological roots in their big, fun Irish Catholic adoptive family. In Twice a Daughter, the road to genetic connection may be fraught with hidden roadblocks but the destinations open up to the widest horizons of the heart authenticity, courage, wholeness, and compassion.”
—Diane Dewey, author of Fixing the Fates: An Adoptee’s Story of Truth and Lies
“Julie conveys the range of emotions felt by adopted persons who yearn for answers and connection with biological relatives. She allows the reader access to her most private experiences of vulnerability, pain, fear, anger, and joy. This book reminds us that there are losses, both ambiguous and clear, at the foundation of adoption. They are experienced differently by birth parents, adopted persons, adoptive parents, and other family members. There is power in sharing these accounts with others, and much to be gained by learning to listen to someone’s most deeply felt experiences.”
—Lisa Francis, LCSW, Post Adoption Services, Catholic Charities, Chicago
“Julie McGue entered the labyrinth of her adoption search with many questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? What tribe do I belong to? Her memoir is not just another tale of an adoptee’s search for truth; her craft and candor turn this into an inspirational story of perseverance and resiliency, one with well-deserved payoffs. Ultimately, this is a story about the discoveries that searching for the truth reveals—how it sets you free and offers the gift of love.”
—Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and author of Don’t Call Me Mother
“Twice a Daughter is an enchanting story about searching and fighting for hidden information and what it means to be adopted—to wrestle with love, pain, rejection, and acceptance. We can all find pieces of our own stories reflected in Julie’s compelling words. This is a must-read for everyone—especially those touched by adoption.”
—Linda Fiore, director of Adoption Center for Family Building
“Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging is a marvelous book. . . . This memoir will take you on an emotional rollercoaster and move you to tears. A page-turning read that is as affecting as it is superbly written . . .”
—The Book Commentary