23 Sept 2026
Sex and the City "Just Say Yes" (2001): Adoption on TV
E042 | Sex and the City "Just Say Yes" (2001) – Adoption on Television
It may have been one of the biggest shows of the era, but its adoption story line has aged about as well as a Mandarin chicken skewer left out on the buffet too long. Season 4, Episode 12 of Sex and the City, "Just Say Yes" follows characters Charlotte and Trey as they toy with the idea of adding a Chinese daughter to their clan, much to the chagrin of Trey's mother, and much to the chagrin of podcast journalist, Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer.
Sex and the City Season 4, Episode 12 "Just Say Yes" first aired on August 12, 2001. It was written by Cindy Chupack, Candace Bushnell, and Julie Rottenberg. It was directed by David Frankel.
This episode of Adoption Pop! aired on September 23, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:
This is the second time we have explored Charlotte's adoption story on Pop! We covered Sex and the City: The Movie in Episode 5.
According to Handwoven Magazine, all tartans are plaid, but not all plaids are tartan. Tartans have an identical pattern of stripes running vertically and horizontally, typically in a two-over-two twill pattern, resulting in overlapping square grids and the illusion of new colors blended from the originals; while the stripes in plaid vary in color, size, and/or pattern. Turns out that Sullivan is wearing plaid in this episode, not tartan. Which is fine, since she's not Scottish anyway.
If you find yourself in New York City in April, you can attend the annual Tartan Day Parade (https://nyctartanweek.org/). Sullivan won't be there.
Turns out Vogue published "The 25 Best 'Sex and the City' Quotes" in 2023 and, surprisingly, Bunny McDougal didn't make the list.
Resolve (https://resolve.org/) is a national organization offering support and advocacy around infertility issues. It "believes adoption should be accessible to all families, regardless of income" and engages in federal lobbying to this effect, though, according to its website, does nothing to support birth/first families or adopted people. Got it.
Adoption Pop! covered the Modern Family "Pilot" in Episode 7 (https://adoptionpop.com/modern-family-pilot-2025-adoption-on-the-small-screen).
Kimberly McKee, Adoption Fantasies: The Fetishization of Asian Adoptees From Girlhood to Womanhood (The Ohio State University Press, 2023)
Cindy Chupack, We Waited for You: Now We're a Family (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2023)
Cindy Chupack, The Longest Date: Life as a Wife (Penguin Publishing, 2014)
Cynthia Littleton, "Motherhood From the Heart: Cindy Chupack on Celebrating Family in All Forms with 'We Waited for You' Picture Book," Variety (May 12, 2023)
Zibby Owens interview with Cindy Chupack, Totally Booked with Zibby (November 15, 2023)
The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.
We'd love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you'd like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net (https://kristalparke.net/), on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Cultural critic Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com and on Instagram.
