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Gretchen Sisson

@gretchensisson.bsky.social
1.1K followers 80 following 114 posts

Sociologist at ANSIRH/UCSF; founder of Abortion Bridge Collaborative Fund; author of 'RELINQUISHED: The Politics of Adoption & the Privilege of American Motherhood.'

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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Gov. Newsom has vetoed a strengthening of CA’s shield law that would have further protected abortion providers & facilitators from extradition, & extended reciprocal protections to out-of-state providers traveling to CA. Californians who care about repro freedom should be angry about this.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Cash assistance is family preservation. It’s that easy to imagine a different future.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
You can also donate directly to the ABC Fund (mentioned in this article) and our movement-based grantmakers will send the money where it’s most needed! (This is a both/and situation; also donate to your local fund.)
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Thank you, Karen! @convergecollide.bsky.social, I’d be happy to send you a copy if you’d like one. Just message me!
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Not sure it passes the Dickinson Test unfortunately.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
And the rest.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My WNBA group chat was all abuzz with approval for the new Cleveland Sirens brand, as “Sirens” met the primary criteria for a WNBA team name: could this team name be the subject on which a 19th century lesbian poet would write? Thus, we bring you: Emily Dickinson on the WNBA.
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Anxious Rage @anxiousrage.blacksky.app · 21/07/2026
One of the worst things I learned from RELINQUISHED by @gretchensisson.bsky.social was if you have a baby and an open child welfare case for their older sibling, some social workers encourage you to relinquish the baby to a private adoption agency so that you have a “choice” in how you lose them
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Here’s a review from yesterday’s judiciary committee meeting with Senator Aisha Wahab and the California Alliance for Adoptee Rights. It’s a privilege to contribute to this conversation and help move forward the case of open records for adopted people. Next: appropriations!
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
So glad the “oh no” came before and not after that realization! 😂 Hope you enjoyed the interview.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
🦣💜 Such a fashion statement we make EVERY YEAR! See you next month. 🥃🐎
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Society of Family Planning @societyfp.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
New #WeCount data: Preliminary findings make it unmistakably clear that telehealth is a cornerstone of abortion access in the US. Key findings: there were approximately 1.1 million abortions in 2025, and 28% of abortions in December 2025 were provided via telehealth. societyfp.org/research/wec...
societyfp.org
#WeCount preliminary findings telehealth brief - Society of Family Planning
#WeCount is a national research effort that measures monthly counts of clinician-provided abortions. Final 2025 estimates will be released in June 2026. Click here to download the brief as a PDF and v...
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Dr. Daniel Grossman @drdgrossman.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Just a reminder as this case continues to move forward: The actual scientific evidence supports *expanding* access to medication abortion, not restricting it.
theguardian.com
US supreme court temporarily extends access to mail-order abortion medication mifepristone
Louisiana had sued the FDA last fall, arguing that prescribing mifepristone interfered with state’s ban on abortion
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
If this stands, it will block more abortions than the Dobbs decision. www.usnews.com/news/politic...
usnews.com
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Got blocked for this one! For what it’s worth, it’s fine to not know things about adoption — but you can approach with curiosity rather than indignation and dismissal.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Good thing no one is making it on thin evidence. 🤷🏻‍♀️
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Thank you for responding to this! This is accurate; only caveat I’d note is that the kinship rates for those out of care are increasing, so the 33% might be a bit low (a good thing!).
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
It’s not about the frequencies, it’s about whether there are “child welfare reasons” for most infant adoptions, and there aren’t.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
It’s so weird to me when people who know nothing about adoption just confidently assert things that are demonstrably untrue about it.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
No, this is not true. The vast majority of infant adoptions are voluntary terminations of parental rights and have nothing to do with child welfare or state intervention.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Hopefully this summer!!! 🤞🏻
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Congratulations to you and all VA-born adoptee people!! I’m so thrilled.
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Adoptee Advocates of Michigan @aaom-adoptees.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Crimes of the accused adoption worker were also overlooked by the adoption agency, which facilitated the adoption despite knowing the birth mother had been lied to by a doctor who told her her child had died, when in fact the grandmother had privately requested the adoption. buff.ly/TDPBt7S 🥚
koreajoongangdaily.joins.com
Investigation into adoptee's human rights abuses case ends after suspect dies
A victim of human rights abuses in Korea's past intercountry adoption process filed a criminal complaint against the adoption worker involved in her case, but the investigation ended after the worker…
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Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Yvette Lindgren & I have a new essay recently accepted by Southern California Law Review! "The Post-Dobbs Abortion Irony" explores how abortion bans only seem to be chilling medically necessary abortions while everyday abortions are increasing everywhere. 1/4 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Kathryn Joyce @kathrynajoyce.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
I’m honored to be reading as part of this Words as Lifelines series Sunday night at 6pm ET, along with @alandettlaff.com & @gretchensisson.bsky.social, talking adoption, family policing, repro justice & more, to benefit families in Gaza. Donate & join us if you can: form.jotform.com/joonae/lifel...
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Bony 🦴 Skeletino 💀 @notalegalrecord.net · 25/03/2026
I’m adopted, not donor-conceived. But I lived the first 4 decades of my life in a state of genetic bewilderment. I think it lowers self-esteem and breeds a kind of dysmorphia. Living in my skin was like wearing some unknown person’s clothes. It took reunion for me to feel truly at home in my body. 🥚
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
I don’t know why anyone, ever, agrees to be interviewed by this man, but I’m glad they do.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Looking forward to hearing what you think!
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Excited to share that RELINQUISHED is available in paperback next Tuesday! If you don’t yet have a copy, be sure to visit your local bookstore to grab a copy. Thank you to everyone who has supported this book on its journey thus far — I’m forever grateful to you. 📚
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Mullin continues a long tradition of adoptive parents legislating on their personal experience of a system designed to benefit them. I wonder what will happen to children separated from their parents by borders on his watch.
mullin.senate.gov
The Blessing of Adoption - U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma
Giving one’s life to the Lord means walking in the path He has set for us. It’s not always easy but trusting in God’s sovereign plan for our lives will always bless us beyond measure. Our family is pr...
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Congratulations!!
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Thank you for the mention! @rinreczek.bsky.social let me know if you’d like a review copy.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
So about one sun for every waiting prospective adoptive family?
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
I’ve gotten less and less patient with this question and I can’t tell if it’s made my answer better or worse.
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ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
"To me, as a mother who was manipulated into relinquishing her son, this 'third option' [of adoption] isn’t a bridge — it’s a trap draped in the language of bravery. It is dangerous, expensive propaganda."
huffpost.com
There Was One Ad During The Super Bowl That People Aren’t Talking About. It Horrified Me.
"It’s a trap draped in the language of bravery. It is dangerous, expensive propaganda."
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
SB381 has unanimously passed the California Senate! A huge step forward. On to the assembly!
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
You did not bear the shame. You resisted. You bestowed the eternally vigilant symbol of change by sacrificing your impassioned lives for freedom, justice and honour. — The German Resistance Memorial in Berlin
Picture of the a plaque at the German Resistance Memorial in Berlin.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 22/01/2026
NEW: An Atlanta-area crisis pregnancy center has raked in more than $1 million from an unusual source: the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The CPC is opening a maternity home, worrying advocates that residents may be coerced into relinquishing children for adoption. @autonomynews.co
autonomynews.co
One Crisis Pregnancy Center Has Received $1.1 Million in Federal Housing Funds Since 2020
A Georgia anti-abortion organization is building a maternity home. Public opposition surfaced allegations of false advertising and medical licensing issues—and resulted in cease and desist letters.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Sorry, that was totally unclear on my part!!
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
No, I mean: she was spinning a hypothetical. But I’ve just interviewed a woman who meets the criteria of that hypothetical — and she supports open records.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Hey, that woman is real. I know her. I interviewed her. She achieved safety when her child was three years old and immediately contacted the agency to open her adoption.
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Anxious Rage @anxiousrage.blacksky.app · 14/01/2026
Senator Weiner "no matter what we do, some people will end up not being pleased, but here we have an opportunity to do something that will make 100% of adoptees happy and the vast majority of birth parents happy as well"
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Thank goodness I’m not in the room today. I could not control my face.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
The conversation in front of the health committee today is infuriating. We’re devoting infinite time to this hypothetical group of birth mothers who don’t want their children to have access to their records. I’ve spoken to so many birth mothers. I’ve never met this woman.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Just add the difference to your SCDC pledge then, I guess.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Well shit, only the “Founding Member” level gets me “undying gratitude” perk and somehow that’s actually leading me to want to upgrade. @stevevladeck.bsky.social
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
(She’s not! I was just joking because the level of knowledge among actual legislators has been a frustration.)
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
lol is this a state legislator.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Please THANK Senator Weber Pierson for her vote today and let her know you hope she’s a YES tomorrow on SB381 on health committee. And please call Senator Caroline Menjivar (health chair) to advocate.
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Gretchen Sisson @gretchensisson.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Open records for adopted people has passed the California judiciary committee. Unanimously. On to the health committee tomorrow.
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