The Retrievals

The Retrievals unpacks an outrageous incident at Yale Fertility Center that took place in 2020, when a nurse was found to have routinely swapped out painkilling solution for saline, leaving numerous women to fully bear the pain of their egg-retrieval procedures. What emerges is a horrific portrait of gender bias and institutional negligence. When women spoke up about the agony they were feeling, they were often ignored and, worse, made to question the legitimacy of their own experiences. In the heated battleground of post-Roe America, this podcast series addresses a vast array of critical issues pertaining to the poor state of women’s reproductive health and legal rights, including the widespread systemic prejudices undermining bodily autonomy. And in the careful hands of host Susan Burton, who produces the series with Laura Starecheski and Julie Snyder, The Retrievals presses even further to interrogate our country’s prioritization of the amorphous ideal of motherhood over the material needs of women’s individual health. For the exemplary sensitivity of its reporting, the power of its inquiries, and its vital contributions at a time of great uncertainty around women’s reproductive health, The Retrievals is recognized with a Peabody Award.