Did you know that in the decades between World War II and Roe v. Wade (1973), an astounding 1.5 million girls and young women were sent to maternity homes and coerced into relinquishing their babies? Now that Roe has been overturned, and reproductive rights are once again fueling a divisive national debate, UNFIT provides a poignant, heartbreaking and personal look into our nation's grim history when abortion was illegal, sex education was almost nonexistent, and birth control was tightly restricted.

In 1971, Lani Jo was a pregnant teenager in the Bible with no choice, and she gave her baby up for adoption. She wrote and published the memoir UNFIT about her experiences, and she workshopped that story as a one-woman show in the 2025 Fertile Ground Festival of New Works. The audience response was unanimous--this wasn't just her story--it was a story that needed to be heard by all who care about reproductive justice. So she spent the year refining it, deepening it, making it sharper. And now she's bringing it back as a full production.

This production is part of the 2026 Fertile Ground Festival of New Works -- a program of the Portland Area Theater Alliance. The festival runs April 10th-26th. More info, including discount festival passes, at fertilegroundpdx.org

Unfit

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