Join us for a discussion of the practices of international adoption from Guatemala from the 1960s to when it was closed in 2008. We will discuss children who were forcibly disappeared during a military dictatorship and later placed for international adoption, as well as the privatization of adoptions that led to the formation of profit-oriented adoption networks. While the discussion will focus on Guatemala, we will draw parallels to other Latin American countries of origin for adoptees that have seen similar issues—from Argentina to Haiti to Colombia. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674270350

About Rachel
Rachel Nolan is a history professor at Boston University. She is the author of Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala, published by Harvard University Press. Her research in archives and through interviews focuses on the circumstances and processes that make children from poorer countries available for adoption in wealthier countries. She is fortunate to have lived in Guatemala for several years as a doctoral student and then as a Fulbright recipient. Before becoming a historian, she worked as a journalist. She continues to write for publications including The New Yorker, New York Review of Books, and Harper's Magazine—​where she is a Contributing Editor.