Missing Mila, Finding Family

An International Adoption in the Shadow of the Salvadoran Civil War

Nonfiction, History, Americas, Central America, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Missing Mila, Finding Family by Margaret E.  Ward, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Margaret E. Ward ISBN: 9780292742222
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: November 1, 2011
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Margaret E. Ward
ISBN: 9780292742222
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: November 1, 2011
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English

In the spring of 1983, a North American couple who were hoping to adopt a child internationally received word that if they acted quickly, they could become the parents of a boy in an orphanage in Honduras. Layers of red tape dissolved as the American Embassy there smoothed the way for the adoption. Within a few weeks, Margaret Ward and Thomas de Witt were the parents of a toddler they named Nelson—an adorable boy whose prior life seemed as mysterious as the fact that government officials in two countries had inexplicably expedited his adoption.

In Missing Mila, Finding Family, Margaret Ward tells the poignant and compelling story of this international adoption and the astonishing revelations that emerged when Nelson's birth family finally relocated him in 1997. After recounting their early years together, during which she and Tom welcomed the birth of a second son, Derek, and created a family with both boys, Ward vividly recalls the upheaval that occurred when members of Nelson's birth family contacted them and sought a reunion with the boy they knew as Roberto. She describes how their sense of family expanded to include Nelson's Central American relatives, who helped her piece together the lives of her son's birth parents and their clandestine activities as guerrillas in El Salvador's civil war. In particular, Ward develops an internal dialogue with Nelson's deceased mother Mila, an elusive figure whose life and motivations she tries to understand.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the spring of 1983, a North American couple who were hoping to adopt a child internationally received word that if they acted quickly, they could become the parents of a boy in an orphanage in Honduras. Layers of red tape dissolved as the American Embassy there smoothed the way for the adoption. Within a few weeks, Margaret Ward and Thomas de Witt were the parents of a toddler they named Nelson—an adorable boy whose prior life seemed as mysterious as the fact that government officials in two countries had inexplicably expedited his adoption.

In Missing Mila, Finding Family, Margaret Ward tells the poignant and compelling story of this international adoption and the astonishing revelations that emerged when Nelson's birth family finally relocated him in 1997. After recounting their early years together, during which she and Tom welcomed the birth of a second son, Derek, and created a family with both boys, Ward vividly recalls the upheaval that occurred when members of Nelson's birth family contacted them and sought a reunion with the boy they knew as Roberto. She describes how their sense of family expanded to include Nelson's Central American relatives, who helped her piece together the lives of her son's birth parents and their clandestine activities as guerrillas in El Salvador's civil war. In particular, Ward develops an internal dialogue with Nelson's deceased mother Mila, an elusive figure whose life and motivations she tries to understand.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Performing Kinship by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book The Film Photonovel by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Isocrates and Civic Education by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Remarkable Plants of Texas by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book The Rope, The Chair, and the Needle by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Trees & Shrubs of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Areas by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Nurturing Masculinities by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book The Child Who Walks Alone by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Petroleum Politics and the Texas Railroad Commission by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Varieties of Liberalism in Central America by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Big Thicket Guidebook by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Modern Architecture in Latin America by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Citizen's Primer for Conservation Activism by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book Medicine in Mexico by Margaret E.  Ward
Cover of the book When Writing Met Art by Margaret E.  Ward
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy