Today we’re talking with Gretchen Sisson, a research sociologist with Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, a critical, ten-year examination of domestic adoption. Centering the stories of relinquishing mothers, the book chronicles America's refusal to care for families at the most basic level, and instead allow cultural and political ideas of adoption to advance an individual, private solution to large-scale social problems. Our conversation critically considers the function adoption has in our society and who it serves, who it fails and who lives with the trauma as the result. We also discuss adoption representation in shows like This is Us and 16 and Pregnant and how the women who Gretchen spoke with feel like The Handmaid’s Tale is the closest representation of their experience relinquishing their child. Here is a link to find out more about Gretchen's book: https://www.relinquishedbook.com/ Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast