Bursting the Rickety Frame of Family-Making in the U.S.

“I would be in public with my child and people would say, ‘well how much did she cost?’—which is very jarring.”

—Linda Seligman

Linda Seligman, herself an adoptive mother to a Chinese daughter, was inspired to take on the idea of how modern families are constituted through transnational and interracial adoption. Her book, Broken Links, Enduring Ties, samples interviews from an abundant pool of adoptive parents, their children, teachers, religious figures and adoption brokers to shed light on this ever-growing contingent of American families. 

In this interview with Virginia's NPR affiliate, Seligman discusses the challenges of transracial adoption and the delicate politics of navigating life as a multiethnic family:

(With Good Reason's adoption segment begins at 1:30 and ends at 16:30)

“Family-making has burst out of a rickety frame that assumed the need for blood ties and heterosexuality.”

—From Broken Links, Enduring Ties

Read an excerpt from the Introduction.