UK government poised to say sorry for forced adoption

The Westminster government looks set to formally apologise to victims and survivors of forced adoption.

Campaigners have long called for an apology to recognise the suffering caused by the removal of children born out of wedlock from hundreds of thousands of mothers.

A cross-party inquiry into Historical Forced Adoption last month urged the government to provide “an unqualified, formal apology to all those affected”.

Prime minister Keir Starmer said his “instinct” was in favour of the move, and that officials had been asked to “speed up” looking into the issue.

Children’s minister Josh MacAlister said the case for an apology is “very powerful”.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he added: “The history of what happened here did involve the state and it is important we are honest about that.

“It is complicated because the state was part of these forced adoptions but was also reflecting really appalling attitudes at the time about women [and] particularly teenage girls who were pregnant.”

MacAlister said those affected should no longer carry shame and stigma for their past, adding: “What happened was appalling. There is a system of abuse that sat behind this that involved the state, the church, [and] social attitudes.

“The case for an apology is really strong and we are actively looking at this at the moment.”

BASW's interim chief executive Samantha Baron maintained the state should apologise to those affected, adding: "There are a significant group of people wo historically had their children removed from them without their informed consent, which would have caused unimaginable pain and trauma.

"The government should recognise this by issuing an apology and funding support for survivors."

An estimated 215,000 unmarried women were coerced to give up their babies in the decades following the Second World War. The figure is believed to be nearer 500,000 if cases into the 1980s are included.

Many pregnant women, some in their teens, were forced into faith-led mother and baby homes where they were often subjected to cruelty and control.

One mother told the committee it was “like a punishment”. Another spoke of the pain of only being allowed two hours with her baby before it was removed.

Australia’s government apologised for its part in forced adoption 13 years ago. In the UK, both the Welsh and Scottish governments have issued formal apologies.

Until recently, however, Westminster’s stance has been to express regret “on behalf of society” rather than the government, which campaigners say is not good enough.

The Movement for an Adoption Apology says many women who suffered are now elderly and facing dying without the “closure an apology would bring”.

The education committee report warned further delay “risks denying them the recognition they have waited decades to receive”.

Campaigner Phil Frampton, who grew up in orphanages after his mother Mavis was forced into a home for unmarried mothers, said an apology was “well overdue”.

“The issue will be how it is framed. If the government refuses to take responsibility it is not an apology. It has to accept it had a role in the forced adoption and the persecution of unmarried mothers.

“It means taking responsibility for the damage that has been done and therefore there are measures needed to support these mothers and their families and their children.”

Frampton said the “stigma, shame and the sense of being unwanted by their mums” followed forced adoptees throughout their lives.

Equally, mothers were haunted by guilt of being unable to bring up children taken from them, he added. An apology would be a “powerful relief for hundreds of thousands of mothers and their families”, said Frampton.

Frampton and other campaigners helped establish the UK’s first memorial to forced adoption at the Rosemundy Mother and Baby Home in St Agnes, Cornwall, last June.

The church, charities and professionals, including GPs and social workers, were also complicit in historic forced adoptions, primarily from the post-war years until the mid-70s.

The committee said it was “not acceptable” for organisations to “evade culpability” by putting such practices down to the “societal norm at the time”.

It added it was “regrettable” the Church of England has not issued a full formal apology. 

However, the BBC claims it has seen a draft apology set to be released by the Church imminently.

The Catholic Church had apologised, noted the report, offered “no meaningful remediation”.

The committee criticised The Salvation Army and Barnardo’s for giving “the impression of justifying their historical involvement, rather than accepting responsibility” during the inquiry.

The government will respond to the Historical Forced Adoption inquiry later this month.