The UK government has issued a formal apology to mothers who were forced to give up their babies for adoption during a period spanning nearly three decades. The apology acknowledges the immense shame and suffering experienced by these women, stating that the shame lies with the institutions that enforced these policies, not with the mothers themselves.
This practice affected approximately 250,000 women between 1949 and 1976. Many of these women were young, unmarried, and from working-class backgrounds. They were often sent to maternity homes run by religious organizations or faced pressure from social workers and the state to relinquish their newborns for adoption, frequently by middle-class families.
Marion McMillan, who was 17 and pregnant in 1966 when she traveled from Scotland to a maternity home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, recounted her experience of having her baby son taken from her despite her pleas to keep him. She described being told she was unworthy to be a mother before her child was separated from her. Another victim, Ann Keen, noted that the babies born to working-class, unmarried girls were often adopted by middle-class women. For many years, these women kept their experiences secret due to the stigma surrounding them.
The BBC documentary "Stolen Babies" sheds light on these personal stories, bringing the scale of the forced adoption system to public attention. The apology from the outgoing prime minister aims to offer some measure of redress and recognition to the women affected by this historical injustice.