The head of the Catholic church in England and Wales
has apologised for its part in “the hurt” caused to young unmarried
women who felt pressured into handing over their babies for adoption in
the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols acknowledged the “the grief
and pain caused by the giving up of a child through adoption”, adding:
“Sadly for unmarried mothers, adoption was considered to be in the best
interests of the mother and child because of the associated stigma and
the lack of support for lone parents.”
A documentary telling the story of some of the women
– who gave up an estimated half a million children during a period when
the Catholic church, the Church of England and the Salvation Army ran “mother and baby homes” and adoption agencies in the UK – is to be broadcast on ITV on November 9th.
In a statement at the end of the programme, Nichols
apologises for the church’s role, saying: “The practices of all adoption
agencies, whether religious, charitable or state, reflected these
attitudes and were sometimes lacking in care and sensitivity. We
apologise for the hurt caused by agencies acting in the name of the
Catholic church.”
The documentary, Britain’s Adoption Scandal: Breaking the Silence,
relates the stories of several women whose babies were given up for
adoption over the 30-year period. Adoption reached a peak in 1968, when
more than 16,000 babies born to unmarried mothers were handed over to
new families.
Some women in the programme said they were offered
no alternative to adoption and were sometimes mistreated. The women
speak of their shame and guilt but add that decisions were taken about
them and their children without proper, informed consultation. “Because I
was young I felt I had to do what I was told,” says Alison, one of the
women in the documentary.
‘Ultimate sin’
Angela, who became pregnant at 18 and was sent to a
Catholic mother and baby home in Essex, said: “You had committed the
ultimate sin, and as a Catholic it was the worst thing that could
possibly have happened to you. So, yes, it did feel like punishment.”
Another young mother, Margaret, who was sent to a
Salvation Army maternity home in Leeds, said: “First of all I’d like
people to know that you didn’t give your babies away. They were taken
from you and you didn’t have a choice.”
She recalls a member of staff coming to collect her
baby. “And she [said], ‘Don’t be silly, you’re doing what’s best’, and
took him from my arms and went, and you’re just left in that room crying
and not one person came to you, she didn’t come back to me after she’d
taken the baby.”
The Church of England also expressed regret for the hurt caused, in a statement to given to the Guardian.
“What was thought to be the right thing to do at the time has caused
great hurt. That is a matter of great regret,” said a spokesperson,
although no statement from the church had been provided to the ITV
programme ahead of the preview transmission.
The issue was highlighted in the 2013 film Philomena, starring Judi Dench. It told the true story of Philomena Lee,
an Irish woman who searched for her son for 50 years after being
pressured by nuns to hand him over for adoption in 1952 when she was a
teenager.
In 2014 Lee met Pope Francis ahead of a screening of the film at the Vatican.
She said: “I have always put great faith in the church and the good
will to put the wrongs of the past right. I hope and believe that his
Holiness Pope Francis joins me in the fight to help the thousands of
mothers and children who need closure on their own stories.”
In 2011, the Catholic church in Australia apologised for the forced adoption of 150,000 babies in Catholic-run hospitals.
In Britain, religious institutions ran 150 mother
and baby homes in the post-war years. St Pelagia’s Home for Destitute
Girls in Highgate, north London – founded by an order of nuns –
organised the adoption of thousands of babies before it closed in 1971.
Young women were obliged to work in the laundry in return for their
keep.
Local authorities
In 1976, the main responsibility for handling
adoptions was moved from voluntary organisations, which were mainly
religious, to local authorities.
Carolynn Gallwey, of Bhatt Murphy
Solicitors, is one of a team of lawyers demanding an inquiry into the
way adoptions were handled up to 1976. “These women . . . are entitled
to have their experiences recognised and the only way to that is through
a public inquiry,” she said.
The Catholic Children’s Society – called The Crusade
of Rescue until 1985 – pointed to different social attitudes in the
post-war decades. “When you look back to the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, in
society in general and in terms of government policy, there was very
little support for unmarried mothers, or mothers who were married but
had a child by a different man,” said chief executive Rosemary Keenan.
“Society’s attitudes have changed. From looking back at our records from sample years,
we estimate that 75 per cent of mothers that came to our organisation
kept their babies. But it would have been difficult for them because of
the values of wider society. Most women were in a very desperate
situation and would have felt pressure from many sources.”
The Crusade of Rescue had lobbied for a change in
law to allow adopted children and birth mothers to discover details
about the circumstances of the adoption, she said. Since 1975, adopted
children have had the legal right to obtain their birth and adoption
records.
Responding to the account by one of the women
featured in the television documentary, the Salvation Army said: “We
sincerely sympathise with Margaret’s painful memories and can only
confirm that her experiences would be different today.”
C of E organisations involved in adoption had also
helped adopted children trace their birth mothers, said a spokesperson.
Many of the post-war organisations no longer existed but current
independent organisations “linked to but outside the structures of the
Church of England still work for the best interests of children and have
helped in tracing mothers and children”.
Britain’s Adoption Scandal: Breaking the Silence will be broadcast on ITV at 9pm on Wednesday November 9th.