‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ – government must apologise for forced adoption
The Westminster government is being urged to issue a public apology for the “pain and suffering” caused by historic forced adoption.
An estimated 215,000 unmarried women were forced to give up their babies and children in the decades following the Second World War. The figure is believed to be nearer 500,000 if forced adoptions into the 1980s are included.
Women gathered outside Downing Street last month to hand in a petition demanding an official apology for the injustices inflicted upon them.
A spokesperson for the Movement for an Adoption Apology (MAA) said: “Many women affected by forced adoption are now elderly, facing the inevitable decline of health and mortality without the recognition and closure that an apology would bring. The cumulative trauma continues to impact their lives, with many unable to find peace or validation.”
The Westminster government has yet to issue an apology. Both the Welsh and Scottish governments apologised following the publication of a report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in 2022.
It states: “Many thousands of mothers have had a lifetime of pain and suffering because their babies were taken for adoption.
“This suffering was compounded by the subsequent branding of them as feckless and uncaring for having irresponsibly 'given their child away'.
“An apology by the government and an official recognition that what happened to these mothers was dreadful and wrong would go some way to mitigate the pain and suffering of to those affected.”
In its response to the report, the Westminster government said it “did not actively support” forced adoption. However, it stated: “The Government agrees with the committee that the treatment of women and their children in adoption practices during this period was wrong and should not have happened.
“Whilst we do not think it is appropriate for a formal government apology to be given, since the state did not actively support these practices, we do wish to say we are sorry of behalf of society to all those affected”.
BASW’s Black Country branch, however, believes an apology should be issued. Branch member Richard Servian said: “Discussions with senior Labour politicians before the last election led the MAA to believe that a formal apology would be issued if the party took power, but there is no indication of this at present.
“A recent early day motion has been submitted in parliament that calls for the UK government to issue a formal apology for historic forced adoptions.”
Dr Michael Lambert, a research fellow at Lancaster Medical School with expertise in the area of forced adoption, also believes an apology is long overdue.
He said: “The current UK government’s position that society was to blame, the state’s role was limited, and forced adoption occurred locally beyond the regulation of government authorities cannot be sustained by the available evidence.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. An apology, redress, and remedial action demanded by mothers and adoptees is long overdue. There is no justification for the state recognising that what happened was reprehensible, without acknowledging their own role.”
Dr Lambert’s briefing paper A State Apology for Historic Forced Adoption in Britain sets out the historic role of social workers in forced adoptions. It says the Moral Welfare Workers Association, one of several BASW predecessors, upheld the religious and ethical value system of the day that led to such practices.
Religious organisations supporting the vulnerable expanded into the sphere of "moral welfare" after 1945, leading to the establishment of faith-led mother and baby homes.
Social workers acted according to what they saw as the best interests of the mothers at the time and Dr Lambert says: “Whilst often caring and progressive individuals, their combination of professional status and idealism, legal authority, and gatekeeping control over other resources in the welfare state meant that it was difficult to oppose or resist their assessment.”
BASW issued a full statement on forced adoption in 2023, but the Black Country branch believes it needs to go further, given the social work involvement in the issue.
Servian points to a recent statement by the Australian Association of Social Workers in which it offers an “unreserved apology” acknowledging the “profound trauma” and “deep and lasting emotional scars” caused by forced adoption.
The Department for Education said it will continue to engage with and provide support for people affected. adding: “This abhorrent practice should never have taken place, and our deepest sympathies are with all those affected."
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has agreed to meet with the MAA.