Gretchen Sisson

Thanks for saying that, Nicole. I’m a bit sensitive to this for *other reasons* (and you’re right readers won’t interpret it as “literally nothing”). As always, grateful to you for your thoughtful reporting and beautiful writing.

I understand. But I’ll be honest — it’s a bummer to see a piece like this, speaking to the exact questions I spent 10 years studying, suggesting there isn’t any research on this. It’s a brilliant article, but it’s disappointing to have that frame included.

I mean. There’s definitely something.

“A professor at Drexel University’s law school, told me that when she speaks with research librarians—looking for recent studies on, say, “birth mothers and their emotions after relinquishment”—the librarians will tell her, “There’s nothing.”

It’s so well done, Janine. I hope you will have a chance to read it.

Thank you for reading and sharing. Really means a lot. 💜

The Adoption Trap Private foster care and adoption agencies in Texas are brokering contracts for moms to turn over their children in a murky legal world, spawning protracted civil custody battles.

Featured story: “The whole system is premised on commodifying human beings, regardless of whether or not it’s a for-profit or a nonprofit agency. And anytime you’re talking about people as a commodity, I don’t know what that looks like to do ethically.”

I’ve you haven’t had a chance to listen to “Liberty Lost,” now’s the time.

Thank you, Karen! Looking forward to hearing what you think when you’ve had a chance to read.

Thank you so much for saying hello and connecting here!!

Thank you!! Happy to be connected here regardless. 💜

I have done a deeply mediocre job of connecting with folks here after leaving X (ok, that’s generous), and am having a hard time easily plugging in to the folks I was connected to there. Did that include you? Please say hi so I can get my footing here a little more easily.

Secrecy in adoption was not about protecting birth mothers’ privacy. They wanted contact. They were told never to contact their children; many were forced to sign letters stating they would never try. Their children were secret from them — whether the mothers wanted “privacy” or not. Most didn’t.

Unfortunately, our times today aren’t that different. Hope you’ll take some time to learn more and understand how the adoption system today fails to align with your progressive values.

So glad to be part of this. Please come, please donate, please support. 🥚🍉 form.jotform.com/251837268680...

Most of the children forcibly separated at the border and made available for private adoption were placed through Bethany Christian Services, one of the largest child-placing agencies in the country. (And, yes, DeVos affiliated.)

Hope you’ll have the chance to learn more: listen to Liberty Lost, follow adoptee voices on social media, and feel free to give my book a read if you want a deep dive.

bookshop.org/p/books/reli...

People on the replies being like “this is trafficking, not adoption” you are *so close.*

Abbi’s story on Liberty Lost is powerful and disturbing and I’m so glad it’s being told. But it’s not unique to just her or even to Liberty — this is the system.

Thank you! I’ll be on episode 7 of ‘Liberty Lost’ and hope folks will continue to listen along to Abbi’s story and how it connects with the broader adoption industry.

This is why agencies often spend more on marketing than on legal or support services, and can use aggressive practices like geofencing, manipulative counseling, or moving vulnerable pregnant women across state lines to encourage relinquishment.

This is an analysis of the private adoption market, where there are up to 45 prospective adoptive parents for every infant available. The demand far, far outpaces the supply, and thus agencies, attorneys, and for-profit brokers are highly motivated to encourage relinquishment.

Totally get it. I use the word “market” intentionally because that is how it functions, and I think it’s important to call it what it is — not because I am flippant about what the commodification of human beings means in that context. I hope I was clear in that.

It’s important to understand who openness is intended to serve, and how it is used as to promote adoption and encourage relinquishment today. Almost no mothers would relinquish in a closed adoption now, so the pitch of openness is necessary for the market to continue.

I appreciate you chiming in! A few thoughts: closed adoptions were not in place so relinquishing mothers would feel “safe” — they were coercive and closed as a result of shame. And adoptions in CA are allowed to be open now, but that’s not required nor legally enforceable.

I think you’re right. That’s who adoption actually serves — but people (and policymakers) don’t often realize that’s who they are centering until you point it out to them.

I am often asked: what about gay people who want to adopt? I actually think it’s really important to push back on this question, and any question that centers prospective adoptive parents. Adoption isn’t — or at least shouldn’t be — about sourcing babies for people who want them.

Thank you, Jennie! You’ve been a huge champion in sharing this book with the repro world, and I’m really grateful. 💜

Thank you for reposting it here. 💜

Thank you so much, Sun Yung. 💜

A very belated congratulations to Gretchen Sisson for her powerful & revelatory book RELINQUISHED: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, an immaculately researched book about appalling levels inequality, cruelty, entitlement masquerading as the right to motherhood.

Looking forward to this conversation with @cameronrussell.bsky.social on May 27. If you’re in the Boston area, please join us — and spread the word!