Originally published in the United States of America by Random House.

Includes bibliographical references.

Preface -- Show yourself to be a mother -- Family picture -- One of our own -- Maternal impression -- Family tree -- Homesick -- Families belong together -- Flesh and blood -- Big lost -- Flight risk -- No other way -- A tale of two mothers -- Be the tree -- Our girl -- All her belongings -- Epilogue.

After deciding not to have a biological child, Sarah Sentilles and her husband, Eric, try to adopt a baby through foster care. Knowing that the system aims for reunification with the birth family, they open their home to a flurry of social workers who question, evaluate, and prepare them to welcome a child into their lives, even if it most likely means giving that child up. After years of starts and stops, the phone call finally comes: a three-day-old baby girl, Coco, in urgent need of a foster family. Sarah and Eric bring this newborn stranger home. 'You were never ours,' Sarah tells her, 'yet we belong to each other.' A love letter to Coco and to the countless others like her, Stranger Care shares Sarah's discovery of what it means to mother: in this case, not just a vulnerable infant, but also the birth mother who loves the child too. Coco's story is a reminder that we depend on family, and that family can take many different forms. --Foreword.