Women's History


Virtual Tenement Talk – Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood

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In honor of Women’s History Month, enjoy a conversation about Relinquished, a new book from author and sociologist Gretchen Sisson sharing the stories of American women who relinquished infants for private adoption. Based on hundreds of interviews with women over a decade, Relinquished looks at how women came to their decisions, how they navigate a societal lack of support, and how they manage their ensuing grief. Relinquished reveals adoption to be a path of constrained choice for those for whom abortion is inaccessible, or for whom parenthood is untenable.

Sisson will be joined in conversation by Christina Baker Kline, author of ‘Orphan Train’, a novel looking at stories of children sent out for adoption in the mid-19th century. Sisson and Kline will draw connections between past and present and shine light on these stories that deserve to be heard about a response to this moment.

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