''The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child'' is a book by American author Nancy Verrier published in 1993. The book posits that there is a "primal wound" that develops when a mother and child are separated by

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

shortly after childbirth. It describes the mother and child as having a vital connected relationship which is physical, psychological and physiological, and examines the effects of disrupting such bonds. The primary focus of the book is on the effects of adoption on the adoptee. A central theme is the assertion that all adoptees, even those adopted at birth, will retain memories of the separation from their birth mothers, and that regardless of the way the adoption is presented and handled by adoptive parents, these memories will have profound effects on the emotional and psychological well-being of the child and adult adoptee.

Editions

* (paperback)

External links

Description on author's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primal Wound, The 1993 non-fiction books Works about adoption Adoption research Grief