Dr. Gretchen Sisson
Category: Ethics
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1h 30m
Sociologist Gretchen Sisson discusses her new book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, and her ten years of research on adoption in the United States. How do relinquishing mothers feel about the support and counseling they received (or didn't) during their pregnancies? How is openness explained to expecting mothers, and does the marketing of open adoption align with their reality of open adoption? How do birthmothers feel about their adoptions over time, and how can their longer-term needs and traumas inform how we support mothers moving forward? Where does our society fail birth mothers, and what do they wish more people understood about their experiences? Through her multiple interviews over the years with numerous birthmothers, she uncovers the answers to these questions and more, providing adoptive parents the information necessary to better understand their child’s first mother, and her experience as part of an adoption triad.
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