Author Maria Laurino Presents Her Book on an Adoption Program from Italy to the US after WWII

Born in New Jersey to an Italian American family, journalist and writer Maria Laurino has published several books about the identity and experience of Italian immigrants and their descendants in the U.S. (most notably the companion volume to theThe Italian Americans, the PBS documentary series directed by John Maggio), with specific attention to the female perspective. On March 25th, she was a guest on our campus to present her latest book in conversation with Dr. Erica Moretti (FIT) and Dr. Teresa Fiore  (Inserra Chair) along with an introduction by Mark Rotella (Coccia Institute Director).

Laurino’s The Price of Children: Stolen Lives in a Land Without Choice (2024) is an investigative work into an adoption program run by the Vatican, which between 1950 and 1970, sent almost 4,000 Italian children to the U.S. These children were initially labeled as “war orphans” and then simply “orphans”, despite the fact that they were not orphans. Her work, based on archival research and interviews conducted in Italy and the U.S. with adoptees, adoptive families, birth mothers, priests, social workers, etc., shows that in reality these children were the offspring of unwed mothers. Often struggling economically, these women were deemed unfit to raise their children or lured into thinking that their children would be taken care of for a while and then returned. In the most chilling cases, they were told their children had died, when in reality they were taken to the U.S. to be raised by Italian American families who were unaware of the full story.

After an introduction about the genesis and development of this project, Maria Laurino was in conversation with Italian cultural historian Erica Moretti, who explored the deep extent to which the Italian American community was involved in assistance programs in support of Italy after WWII. Dr. Moretti highlighted the fact that the support program was international and covered several areas related to refugees, POW’s etc who were forced to relocate by the war. She also discussed how the adoption program involved entities and intermediaries other than the Catholic Church, thus demonstrating the complexity of this practice that was driven by good intentions but ultimately produced loss, grief, and identity disorientation, all of which surface in Maria Laurino’s research.

Students from the Italian American in Film class participated after watching a documentary that Maria Laurino mentions in her book: Pia’s story: My Brother, My Sister, Sold for a Fistful of Lire (1998) by Belgium-based Basile Sallustio, about an elderly Italian woman who searches for her siblings who were adopted in the U.S. with the support of the Catholic Church. A clip from the movie highlights the secrecy of the system that she has to challenge over and over again until she is able to meet her siblings. Students in the Honors program class titled “The Meanings of Adoption” read Laurino’s book in its entirety and were inspired to ask questions about the role of translation in the encounters with Italian birth families, the agency of women in economically depressed conditions, and the role of Catholic spiritual values in this story. One of the students, Nour Shalash, remarked: “It’s the first time that as students we get to hear in person the author of one of the books we are covering in class! Learning about the motivations behind the project and the long time devoted to its completion directly from Maria Laurino has added even more value to this fascinating book.” The broader audience contributed with questions about the complications entailed in the search for original identity documents, and they also shared first-hand recollections of the days in which similar practices of forced adoption took place in the U.S.

The event was co-organized and sponsored by the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies and the Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America, in collaboration with the Italian Program in the World Languages and Cultures Department. “It’s been a pleasure to work with my colleague Mark Rotella at the Coccia Institute to bring an author whose interests continue to speak to both our missions on campus” Dr. Fiore remarked. “I am particularly appreciative of the time Maria Laurino spent with the students after the event, and of the possibilities that Dr. Moretti’s research opens to continue a conversation on important topics related to the US-Italy relationships after WWII.”

Event’s webpage
Short link for this page: https://tinyurl.com/MSULaurino