Gretchen Sisson is a sociologist who studies abortion and adoption at the University of California, San Francisco. Her new book, Relinquished, is the culmination of a decade-long study in which Sisson interviewed mothers from across the country – all of whom relinquished their children. Sisson shares their personal stories, and examines the socio-economic circumstances that play a major role in adoptions.
Each year, there are an estimated 18 to 22 thousand private domestic infant adoption. Sisson argues that without financial security, too many poor mothers are compelled to relinquish their children. It’s a decision that many of them come to regret. Sisson’s research on the decisions that mothers make after their abortions are denied was cited in the Supreme Court’s dissent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
Lara Bazelon is a law professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and the author of Ambitious Like a Mother.