Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a formal apology on behalf of the state for historic forced adoptions of babies from unmarried mothers, describing the practice as a "stain on our history."
The apology was delivered as Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin shared a tearful account in the House of Commons about her own mother being pressured by the church to give up her baby for adoption. Pochin revealed she only learned of the secret after her mother's death and faced a difficult and costly private process to locate her sibling.
"My own mother was pressurised into giving up a baby for adoption, and this was handled by the church," Pochin told MPs. "I only found out after her death, she carried her secret to her grave."
Pochin recounted her experience: "When I found out, I tried to find my sibling, but drew a blank. I had to pay privately to find him, and we’ve now been united." She questioned whether the Prime Minister could assure those affected that new systems and resources would be adequately funded for family reunification.
The Prime Minister commended Pochin for her "huge courage" in sharing her personal story, acknowledging its power in illustrating how forced adoption continues to affect families. He stated that while reuniting families is positive, the process should not be as difficult as Pochin described, and that "we have to do better than that, and we will."
Estimates suggest that between 1949 and 1976, approximately 185,000 babies born to unmarried mothers were forcibly adopted in England and Wales, though Starmer indicated the number could be higher.
Women affected by forced adoptions were present in Parliament as the government issued its apology. While the governments of Cardiff and Holyrood issued similar apologies in 2023, this marks the first official apology from the UK Government.
Starmer met with campaigners prior to the parliamentary statement, telling them they had endured a "double injustice" by waiting so long for a state apology. He described how mothers were "coerced, bullied, or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them," and that this "should never have happened."
The Prime Minister expressed the state's "deep and profound sorry to the mothers who were told they were unfit, who were prevented from caring for the children they desperately wanted to help and to keep, and who have carried this loss for decades."
As part of the government's response, Starmer announced funding for a national online resource designed to help individuals locate adoption records. "We'll do everything we can to make sure it's as complete as possible as quickly as possible," he said.
