British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to make a formal apology in Parliament on Thursday to victims of historic forced adoption practices in Britain, acknowledging the state’s role in a system that saw an estimated 185,000 children taken from unmarried mothers in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976, the BBC reported.The apology follows decades of campaigning by mothers, adoptees and their families, and comes after a cross-party parliamentary inquiry concluded earlier this year that successive government policies helped create an environment in which unmarried women were routinely shamed and forced to give up their children.Before making his statement in the House of Commons, Starmer is expected to meet activists in Downing Street.
“We have always been accused of abandoning our children.”
According to the BBC, activist and Labor MP Anne Keane, whose son was adopted in 1966 without her consent, said the apology was of great importance.“We all need this apology because we have always been accused of abandoning our children, and we did not abandon them,” Kane told the BBC.Activists have long argued that many women have little choice, as social stigma, institutional pressures and official policies force them to hand over their children because they are not married.
The investigation found that the state helped create a coercive system
A report published by the House of Commons Education Committee in March concluded that government decisions “shaped the environment in which unwed mothers were often shamed and forced to put their children up for adoption.”The committee asked the government to issue an immediate formal apology, and also recommended improving access to adoption records and providing greater support to mothers and adoptees trying to find or reunite with their families.The call for an apology reiterated recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in 2022, which said the government bore ultimate responsibility for the suffering caused by public institutions and state employees who “pushed mothers into unwanted adoptions.”
Long campaign for recognition
Education Minister Bridget Phillipson confirmed last month that the government would apologize for what she described as a “shameful period in our history.”The move represents a reversal from the previous Conservative government, which in 2023 expressed regret over how unwed mothers were treated, but said a formal apology to the state was inappropriate because it did not believe the state effectively supported the practice.Westminster’s apology follows similar apologies issued by the devolved governments in Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is expected to consider making a formal apology after the public inquiry into mother and baby institutions is completed.
The church also acknowledged “pain, trauma and stigma.”
Sarah Mullally also apologized to those affected, saying the impact on families had been lifelong for many survivors.She acknowledged the “pain, trauma and stigma” experienced by mothers and children, and said there was deep shame that such practices occurred within Christian communities.
Activists remember those who never lived to hear the apology
For many activists, Thursday’s apology will be bittersweet.It comes almost two years after the death of Veronica Smith, who co-founded the Movement for Adoption Apology (MAA) in 2010 after her daughter was taken from her in the 1960s.Many women who have fought for decades for official recognition are no longer alive or well enough to witness this moment, said Diana DeVries, current MAA president, whose daughter was forcibly adopted when she was 17.“It’s very moving,” DeVries said, adding that although the government’s acknowledgment of injustice was welcome, it was heartbreaking that many activists who had dedicated years to this issue would not be present to hear the apology.