March 3, 2023

Fresh Take: Francesca Royster on "Choosing Family"

Francesca Royster, author of the memoir CHOOSING FAMILY:A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance, explains what it means to build a “chosen family” of friends, and how to parent while yearning for the world that we want, but don’t have yet.

How do we find support when our family of origin is no longer around or has otherwise rejected us? Francesca Royster, author of the new memoir Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance, explains the concepts of chosen family, finding joy in the everyday, and the resistance that is part of telling hard stories.

Margaret and Francesca discuss:

  • What inspired Francesca to write her memoir
  • What it's like to enter motherhood at an older age
  • The process of adopting her daughter


Taking pleasure in the reality of everyday life can really help you connect with loved ones in your family, chosen or blood-related. And telling stories about hardship and tragedy can actually help us gain perspective and have more hope about the world, not less.

Here's where you can find Francesca:


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