Nolan’s ‘Until I Find You’ Sheds Light on Guatemala’s Hidden Adoption Tragedy

Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and  Contributing Editor at Harper’s Magazine, has released her latest book, “Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala.” The Guardian featured an excerpt from this insightful work, bringing attention to Guatemala’s adoption industry—a compelling narrative rooted in inequality, war, and Indigenous dispossession.

The book, published by Harvard University Press on January 9, 2024, explores the unsettling realities of Guatemala’s civil war, revealing an international marketplace for children. Approximately 40,000 children, predominantly Indigenous, were forcibly separated from families affected by war or poverty, with the US-backed army playing a significant role in illegal adoptions.

Nolan’s in-depth investigation draws from government archives, oral histories, and adoption files, providing a rare glimpse into an industry that thrives on exploitation. The book sheds light on the complexities of Guatemala’s troubled history, exposing the human toll of an international adoption system that exploits economic disparities, endemic violence, and dislocation.

“A staggeringly brilliant work of the heart and the head. One can’t read Nolan’s story of forced adoptions in Guatemala and not come away both shaken and intellectually challenged.” – Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author.

To explore more about the book or to purchase a copy, visit the Harvard University Press website.

Rachel Nolan is a historian of modern Latin America. Her research focuses on political violence, Central American civil wars, childhood and the family, historical memory, and U.S.-Latin American relations. She is currently completing a book manuscript on the history of international adoption from Guatemala. Read more about Professor Nolan on her faculty profile.