The Red Thread

The Red Thread is the true story of an expat woman’s struggle to complete her family while living in India.

After shunning infertility treatment and adopting her first child, Sarah knows that family is created from love not DNA, so she sets out to replicate the fairy-tale experience of her daughter’s adoption from Cambodia. But things are not as straightforward this time.

After choosing a baby to adopt, Sarah comes up against the risks of child trafficking and an imminent Cambodian law change that will shut down all adoptions and potentially subject her baby to life in an orphanage for the years to come. As Sarah battles government bureaucracy to free her child, the only thing that binds them together is the Buddhist red threads tied to both their wrists that symbolise courage and bravery.

The Red Thread is an emotional journey of a mother’s battle to get to her child. It is a tale about one woman’s commitment and perseverance to overcome hurdles, and her blind hope to help a child. It is a story of love.

Sarah Salmon is an Australian writer who lived in Asia for fifteen years, during which time she and her husband adopted two children from Cambodia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, majoring in journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney. Sarah has written feature articles on infertility and adoption for The Sun-Herald magazine, opinion pieces for Mamamia and published short stories in the anthologies Tales of Two Cities and Rojak. The Red Thread is her debut memoir.