Weaving a Family: Untangling Race And Adoption

Weaving together the sociological, the historical, and the personal, Barbara Katz Rothman looks at the contemporary American family through the lens of race, race through the lens of adoption, and all—race, family, and adoption—within the context of the changing meanings of motherhood.

“What a fine and complex book this is! Barbara Katz Rothman takes us, with lucidity and (often brave) good humor, through the tangle of pains and satisfactions that come with her family’s challenge to the racial status quo.” —Rosellen Brown, author of Half a Heart and Before and After

“Is it right for white parents to adopt African-American children? How does a white parent expose her black daughter to two cultures? Protect the child from insensitive remarks? Sociologist Barbara Katz Rothman . . . doesn’t just describe what it’s like to be the white mother of a black girl. Rothman skillfully debates adoption ethics, the commodification of children, and the politics of inequality in America.” —Anne E. Stein, Chicago Tribune

“In Weaving a Family, the sociologist and white mother of an African American girl provides an accessible, sensitive portrayal of the inherent sociological complexities of mixed-race adoption and parenting.” —Melissa Chianta, Mothering

Barbara Katz Rothman is a professor of sociology at the City University of New York. Her previous books include The Book of Life (Beacon / 0451-0 / $16.00 pb), Recreating Motherhood, The Tentative Pregnancy, and In Labor. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and the youngest of their three children.