Finding Fernanda: Two Mothers, One Child, and a Cross-Border Search for Truth

By Erin Siegal
“Finding Fernanda” sheds light on the highly politicized landscape of Guatemala’s adoption industry, a multi-million dollar trade that was highly profitable while barely regulated. Children have been stolen, sold, and offered as orphans to well-intentioned Western parents since the industry began in the 1980′s. With help of documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests, leaked emails, and key sources inside both the Guatemalan and U.S. governments, journalist Erin Siegal traces the riveting story of two very different women brought together by the same kidnapped child. Winner of a 2012 Overseas Press Club Robert Spiers Benjamin Award Citation for Best Reporting on Latin America, a 2012 James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists, a 2012 Independent Book Publisher Award (Best Book, Current Affairs II), and an International Latino Book Award (Women’s Issues). Beacon Press, 2012.