Prison Baby: A Memoir

Even at twelve years old Deborah Jiang Stein, the adopted daughter of a progressive Jewish couple in Seattle, felt like an outsider. Her Asian features set her apart from her white, well-intentioned parents who evaded questions about her past, insisting it didn't matter. But when Deborah discovered a letter revealing the truth--that she was born in prison to a heroin-addicted mother and spent the first year of her life in prison--she spiraled into emotional lockdown. For years she turned to drugs, violence, and crime as a way to cope with her grief. Ultimately, Deborah overcame the stigma, shame, and secrecy of her birth, and found peace by helping others--proving that redemption and acceptance is possible even from the darkest corners.