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We were thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Gretchen Sisson for today's episode. Gretchen Sisson is a sociologist who studies abortion and adoption in the United States. She is the author of Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with women who have relinquished infants for domestic adoption over the past 60 years. Gretchen is a researcher, a mom, an ally to birth mothers in the adoption community, and so much more. Posing challenging thoughts that society, and even our community, has long hesitated to ponder, we valued this conversation with Gretchen and of course, this incredible book. FIVE stars for Relinquished from the Twisted Sisterhood Podcast. We hope to keep this conversation rolling in our community!



More about Relinquished:

A powerful decade-long study of adoption in the age of Roe, Relinquished reveals the grief of the American mothers for whom the choice to parent was never real. Adoption has always been viewed as a beloved institution for building families, as well as a mutually agreeable common ground in the abortion debate, but little attention has been paid to the lives of mothers who relinquish infants for private adoption. Relinquished reveals adoption to be a path of constrained choice for those for whom abortion is inaccessible, or for whom parenthood is untenable.

The stories of relinquishing mothers are stories about our country's refusal to care for families at the most basic level, and to instead embrace an individual, private solution to a large-scale, social problem.

We are in a political moment in which adoption is, increasingly, being revealed as an institution devoted to separating families and policing parenthood under the guise of feel-good family-building. Rooted in a long-term, qualitative sociological study, Relinquished is an analysis of hundreds of in-depth interviews with American mothers who placed their children for domestic adoption collected over a decade. The voices of these women are powerful and heartrending; they deserve to be heard as a response to this moment.

You can purchase the book on Amazon, Bookshop, or your local bookseller! :)

Happy New Year, sisterhood! This week is about the three R's no one told you about: Roles, Rights, and Responsibilities. What is it that we owe our children? What role should we play in this arrangement, and will that change over time? What can we do to best support our kids and have a positive relationship over time? We cover so much about this complicated lifelong relationship. Tune in!

We are so grateful that we got to sit with Lacy, a great birth mom friend of ours :) Lacy Shaw is a birth mom nearly 10 years post-placement, navigating life and parenthood with two littles in Southern California.

There’s so many gems in this episode. We cover generational effects of our decision to relinquish, what life looks like after a decade of post-placement, how this decision affects us when we parent other children, and so much more. This episode will leave you thinking.

Mercedes is a birth mother from St. Louis. At 20 years old, she pursued adoption for her daughter and dealt with the child welfare system in the process. Because of this experience, Mercedes is passionate about connecting foster youth to their biological families in every role she undertakes. Mercedes has over a decade of experience serving families engaged with the child welfare system, most recently as a Field Operation Specialist for Missouri Children’s Division, overseeing the St. Louis Region with the support of data for the implementation of legislation and improvement planning.



She is passionate about gathering and analyzing data to impact policies for youth and families. Mercedes graduated from the Minority Professional Leadership Development Program (MPLD) with AdoptUSKids, where she developed a language resource group to address a language barrier that adoption recruiters faced when working towards permanency for their Hispanic youth. In short, Mercedes is an absolute rockstar.

We are back with the second episode of season 3 of the Twisted Sisterhood Podcast! Today, we talk about stereotypes and stigmas... but it's not what you think. We have grown tired of the usual conversation surrounding stereotypes and stigmas and how this doesn't foster inclusivity or bring anyone closer to community, healing, or understanding. We reject the idea of a hierarchy within the lowest rung on the adoption ladder. We encourage you to listen to today's episode with an open mind and discover how to bring people into your circle.

Show Notes:


Relinquished by Gretchen Sisson


Lifetime Healing Foundation - Find a support group near you!

Welcome to Season THREE of the Twisted Sisterhood Podcast! We have a great season lined up for you, you'll be hearing all about the projects that are happening in the adoption world, as well as policy changes, new books and documentaries, and hearing from more birth moms about their experiences.



Show Notes:


AdoptChange.org for the Adoption Provider Search, state law information, and more on how to get involved with change in adoption
Ethical Family Building
Lifetime Healing Foundation - Find a support group near you!
Adoption Unfiltered book, releasing December 1st! Pre-order on Amazon or Bookshop
Adoptees United - Stay updated on current legislation regarding open birth records for adoptees
Adoptee Rights Law Center - Greg Luce, Esq. - Find out more about open records and the steps to obtaining an original birth certificate in your state.