Francesca T. Royster On The Joys of Chosen Family

When Francesca T. Royster, a professor at DePaul University, and her wife, Annie, decided to adopt a baby and extend their family, the adoption process sparked a process of self-reflection that caused Royster to examine the concepts of home, motherhood, and building a queer and multiracial family. In her new memoir, Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance, Royster dives into these topics, and the result is a joyous tribute to the matriarchs in her family, examining how the lives of different women shaped her thinking around queer family, as well as an illuminating examination of the adoption process from a Black, queer, and feminist perspective. Choosing Family has received enormous praise from critics, with Publishers Weekly stating, “insightful and reflective, this is a moving tribute to the power of chosen family” and Kirkus Reviews hailing it as “a potent love letter to community in all its forms.”