Parentless Parents: How the Loss of Our Mothers and Fathers Impacts the Way We Raise Our Children

Parentless Parents is the first book to show how the absence of grandparents impacts everything about the way mothers and fathers raise their children---from everyday parenting decisions to the relationships they have with their spouses and in-laws.

For the first time in U.S. history, as the average age of women giving birth has increased significantly, millions of children are at risk of having fewer years with their grandparents than ever before. How has this substantial shift affected parents and kids? Journalist, award-winning television producer, and parentless parent Allison Gilbert has polled and studied more than 1,300 parentless parents from across the United States and a dozen other countries to find out.

Through her pioneering research, Gilbert shares not only her own story and the significant and poignant effect that this trend has had on her and hundreds of other families, but also the myriad ways these mothers and fathers have learned to keep the memory of their parents alive for their children, and to find the support and understanding they need.

Allison Gilbert is the founder of Parentless Parents, a new and growing nationwide network of parents who have experienced the loss of their own mothers and fathers. Gilbert is also the author of Always Too Soon and co-editor of Covering Catastrophe. Her work has been featured in the New York Times and on The Early Show, Extra!, CNN, and ABC News. Gilbert lectures regularly on parenting and loss.