Beyond Good Intentions is a book of essays about the joys and risks of raising children adopted internationally. Cheri Register examines ten pitfalls that well-meaning parents like herself can easily slip into: -- Wiping Away Our Children's Past -- Hovering Over Our "Troubled" Children -- Holding the Lid on Sorrow and Anger -- Parenting on the Defensive -- Believing Race Doesn't Matter -- Keeping Our Children Exotic -- Raising Our Children in Isolation -- Judging Our Country Superior -- Believing Adoption Saves Souls -- Appropriating Our Children's Heritage Each essay opens with an exaggerated version of something an adoptive parent might say, to prompt a fresh, intense look at practices so familiar they are seldom questioned, even though they may not serve the children's and the family's best interests. Register urges readers to bring their own experiences to bear in a candid conversation about internationally adoptive family life.