On this week’s episode we talk to Gretchen Sisson, a sociologist studying abortion and adoption. Sisson’s research on mothers who choose to relinquish their rights into private adoptions led to her writing Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. We talked about that research, her book, and what both experiences have led her to believe about the framework and very existence of adoption in America. 

Gretchen Sisson is a qualitative sociologist studying abortion and adoption at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at University of California, San Francisco.

Reading Room

Relinquished, by Gretchen Sisson

https://www.relinquishedbook.com/

Since Dobbs, Idaho mothers increasingly accused of child abuse while pregnant

https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/since-dobbs-idaho-mothers-increasingly-accused-of-child-abuse-while-pregnant/255965

A Misguided Rush to Judgment on How Abortion Laws Impact Foster Care 

https://imprintnews.org/opinion/a-misguided-rush-to-judgment-on-how-abortion-laws-impact-foster-care/256024

What Happens When Foster Youth Want an Abortion — and What Could Soon Change?

https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/foster-youth-abortion-sabino/66760

Roe v. Wade: Unintended Consequences

https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/roe-v-wade-unintended-consequences/66554

Overturned Supreme Court Rulings Affect Foster Youth, Too

https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/overturned-supreme-court-rulings-affect-foster-youth-too/234958