Brief Writings on Abortion as It Relates to Adoption

Listed chronologically beginning with most recently published work.

(This list is not intended to be exhaustive. Additional suggestions may be submitted here.)

Articles/Op-Eds/Essays

• 2022/06/29, My Turn (Newsweek) — “I Was Adopted after Roe v. Wade, I Wish Abortion Had Been an Option for My Birth Mom” by John Gregg, adoptee and family preservation activist (as told to Monica Greep)

• 2022/06/28, Visible Magazine — “From Political Pawns to Punchlines: Leave Adoptees Out of Your Abortion Arguments (and Memes)” by Stephanie Drenka, adoptee and editor

• 2022/06/28, Delaware Online — “In the Debate Over Abortion Rights, Adoption Isn’t an ‘Easy’ Solution. Trust Me, I Know.” by Isabel Hughes, adoptee and journalist

• 2022/06/24, Texas Observer — “More People Will Die if Texans Don’t Speak Up for Women’s Bodies” by Shawna Hodgson, adoptee and adoptee rights activist

• 2022/06/20, The Washington Post — “As an Adoptee, I Know: Adoption Is Not a Fairy-Tale Answer to Abortion” by Cynthia Landesberg, adoptee and attorney

• 2022/06/04, Bloomberg — “Adoption Is Not a Substitute for Abortion” by Kami Rieck, adoptee and editor

• 2022/05/09 – 2022/05/13, Bill of Health (Petrie-Flom Center, Harvard Law) — “Adoption, Family Separation & Preservation, and Reproductive Justice”, series of articles by contributors “that reflect not only an array of scholarly disciplines, but a range of lived experiences related to adoption, including adopted people, birth/first parents, and adoptive parents”; series edited by Gretchen Sisson, sociologist

• 2022/01/21, TODAY Parents (Today.com) — “On Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Adoptees Don’t Want To Be a ‘Pawn’ in Abortion Debates” by Danielle Campoamor featuring interviews with four adult adoptees

• 2022/01/18, Rewire News Group — “Adoption Agencies vs. ‘Roe’: The Invisible Hand Stirring the Pot” by Liana DeMasi, writer and granddaughter of a woman who lost a child to adoption

• 2021/12/26, Think: Opinion, Analysis, Essays (NBCNews.com) — “Adoption Doesn’t Mean Abortion Isn’t Needed, Even if Some Supreme Court Justices Think So” by Aimee Christian, adoptee, essayist and memoirist

• 2021/12/18, ekathimerini.com — “Adoption: Not a Default Setting” by Mary Cardaras, adoptee, documentary film producer and author

• 2021/12/17, The Seattle Times — “Adoption Is Not a Simple Solution to an Unwanted Pregnancy” by Lucia Blackwell, adoptee and editor

• 2021/12/09, I Have Notes (The Atlantic) — “A Choice in Name Only” by Nicole Chung, adoptee and author

• 2021/12/08, Vox — “Why Adoption Isn’t a Replacement for Abortion Rights” by Anna North, journalist

• 2021/12/07, The Nation — “What We Get Wrong About Adoption” by Gretchen Sisson, sociologist, and Jessica M. Harrison, adoptee and mental health clinician

• 2021/12/06, Red Letter Christians — “Is Pro-Life Evangelicalism Killing Adoptees?” by Sara Easterly, adoptee and author

• 2021/12/04, Thoughts and Ideas (Medium) — “Adoption Is Not an Alternative to Abortion” by Mindy Stern, adoptee and screenwriter

• 2021/12/03, The Independent — “My Birth Mother Didn’t Get the Option of Abortion. That’s Why I Stand Against the Texas Ban.” by Melissa Guida-Richards, adoptee and author

• 2021/12/03, Intelligencer — “Amy Coney Barrett’s Adoption Myths” by Irin Carmon, journalist – features interviews with adoptee and media consultant Angela Tucker, birth mother and educator Kate Livingston, sociologist Gretchen Sisson, and journalist Kathryn Joyce

• 2021/12/03, MadameNoire — “Justice Amy Barrett Thinks Adoption in Lieu of Abortion Is a Fairy Tale, But It’s Not to Millions of Black Moms and Adoptees” by Stacey Patton, adoptee and journalist

• 2021/12/03, The New York Times — “I Was Adopted. I Know the Trauma It Can Inflict.” by Elizabeth Spiers, adoptee and Democratic digital strategist

• 2021/12/03, The Washington Post — “Barrett Is Wrong: Adoption Doesn’t ‘Take Care of’ the Burden of Motherhood” by Gretchen Sisson, sociologist

• 2021/12/03, Adoptee Rights Law Center — “Before You Start Spouting Off About Haiti, Amy Coney Barrett, and the ‘Beauty’ of Adoption” by Gregory Luce, adoptee and attorney

• 2021/12/02, Vogue — “Adoption Isn’t the Solution to Abortion, No Matter What Amy Coney Barrett Says” by Emma Specter, culture writer

• 2021/09/21, Verdict (Justia) — “Abortion and the Adoption Option” by Sherry F. Colb, law professor

• 2021/09/01, Human Parts (Medium) — “I Am Adopted. That’s Why I Had an Abortion.” by Mindy Stern, adoptee and screenwriter

• 2021/04/01, Medium — “To Everybody Who Has Ever Asked an Adoptee About Their Views on Abortion–“ by Shannon Quist, adoptee and author

• 2019/05/29, HuffPost — “I’m Adopted and Pro-Choice. Stop Using My Story for the Anti-Abortion Agenda.” by Stephanie Drenka, adoptee and writer

• 2019/05/22, Psychology Today — “Adoption Is Not a Solution for Abortion” by Joanne Bagshaw, adoptee and therapist

• 2019/05/20, The Atlantic — “Why So Many Women Choose Abortion Over Adoption” by Olga Khazan, journalist

• 2015/11/04, Lost Daughters — “Contrary to #FlipTheScript, #ShoutYourAdoption Is All About Shame” by Karen Pickell, adoptee and author

• 2013/02/12, The Declassified Adoptee — “Why Conflating Adoption and Abortion Isn’t Really Helping Anything” by Amanda Transue-Woolston, adoptee and social worker

• 2010/09/10, The Adopted Ones Blog — “The Abortion or Orphanage Comeback” by TAO, adoptee

Scholarly Articles

• 2017/03/01, Women’s Health Issues — “Adoption Decision Making among Women Seeking Abortion” by Gretchen Sisson

• 2012/02, Journal of Applied Philosophy — “Adoption Is Not Abortion-Lite” by Lindsey Porter