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History & Politics

The Price of Children

A new book by Maria Laurino

Date
Monday, October 28, 2024
Time
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Overview

Book Presentation
The Price of Children
(2024, Open Road Media)

by Maria Laurino

The author in conversation with
Sabina Castelfranco, CBS 60 Minutes producer

In ENGLISH

The Price of Children is the never-told story of how the Vatican and the American Catholic Church sent nearly 4000 children of unwed Italian mothers to the United States for adoption between 1950 to 1970, falsely labeling them “war orphans” then later “orphans.” With the religious stigma of unwed motherhood turning families against daughters, and a Church and State wanting “illegitimate” children sent abroad, mothers were lied to, given forms to sign that they didn’t understand, or even told their baby had died, all to further supply this international adoption pipeline. Maria Laurino’s investigation began from a family discovery: a chance phone call from her cousin revealed that he had been one of these children, leading her to uncover an adoption scheme overseen by the highest levels of the Vatican.

“I could not put this book down. An amazing read. Laurino eloquently unfolds the nefarious history of the Italian “war adoptions” in a manner that is entirely readable and clear as a bell, her research precise and well rendered. I was spellbound by the variety of stories revealed here of heartache, of children longing for their mothers and mothers forced to give up their children. Lives were changed irrevocably, and she warns us that they can be changed again in a similar, though more-up-to date manner. One of the best books I’ve recently read.” —Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kittredge

“An extraordinary work of investigative journalism.” —Corriere della Sera

“By shedding light on the mistreatment suffered by single mothers of that time, [The Price of Children] invites all women to defend those civil rights which, today, are questioned in many parts of the world.” —Vanity Fair Italia

“[An] astonishing investigative work. . . . Maria Laurino’s painful, very rich and very human book. . . . Helps us ask fundamental questions about the present and the future.” —Doppiozero

Radio and Television Journalist with 30 years of experience as a Correspondent and Producer, Sabina Castelfranco was born in Buenos Aires, grew up in Italy, Spain and America and graduated at the London School of Economics. After passing the Italian State exam as a professional journalist, she became a reporter for Vatican Radio, CBS Radio and Voice of America among others. Since 1998 she works as a producer for CBS 60 Minutes and freelances for all major American, British and Australian networks.

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