UK government apologizes for forced adoptions of unmarried mothers’ babies

Prime Minister Keir Starmer formally apologized Thursday for the British state's role in separating tens of thousands of unmarried mothers from their babies , a practice that lasted for decades until the 1970s. He said in Parliament that “we are deeply and profoundly sorry” for what he called a “stain on our history.” An estimated 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976. Campaigners have fought for years for acknowledgment that women were pressured, deceived and threatened into giving up their babies. Starmer met Thursday with a group of campaigners, who watched from the public gallery of the House of Commons as he delivered the apology. He said that women were “coerced, bullied or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them.” “Children grew up believing they were unwanted” and mothers were told “their babies would be better off without them,” he said. “To every one of those affected we say a deep and heartfelt sorry,” said Starmer, who is his final weeks as Britain

The scandal saw many mothers, including teenagers, effectively coerced into giving up their children through social, institutional and family pressure.

An estimated 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976.

The British government plans to formally apologize for separating unmarried mothers from their babies, a practice that lasted until the 1970s

UK to apologise for decades of forced adoption of unmarried mothers babies