Luca Trapanese and Luca Mercadante Co-Author Adoption Memoir 'Nata per te'

The book 'Nata per te' (Einaudi, 2018), co-authored by Luca Mercadante and Luca Trapanese, recounts the adoption of Alba, a one-month-old girl with Down syndrome, by Trapanese, a single gay father professionally involved with disability. The narrative is structured as a conversation between the two authors, intertwining Trapanese's journey to fatherhood with Mercadante's recent experience as a father to his firstborn, Andrea. The book explores themes of paternity, freedom, choice, and parenting, questioning societal perceptions of disability. Trapanese asserts that trisomy is a way of being, not a disease, and critiques society for creating apartheid rather than recognizing disability as a difference. The title references 'Stellamia,' a term used by a deceased friend in the 1990s and later as a temporary surname for Alba before her adoption. On June 14, 2018, the Juvenile Court of Naples ruled that Alba is Trapanese's daughter, taking his surname.