The Church of England has issued a long-awaited apology for its involvement in forced adoptions that occurred after the Second World War. Between the 1940s and 1980s, hundreds of thousands of children in the UK were forcibly separated from their mothers. Survivors have testified to enduring abuse, neglect, and lifelong trauma as a result.
Anglican Mother and Baby Homes
Anglican mother and baby homes were part of a broader network of institutions, which also included Catholic and Salvation Army homes. Unmarried women were sent to these homes to give birth in secret, often under pressure to hand over their babies to married couples for adoption.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, stated on Thursday: “We are profoundly sorry for the pain, trauma and stigma experienced, and still carried, by many people because of historical adoption practices in homes affiliated to the Church of England.” She acknowledged first-hand accounts of mothers separated from their babies with few meaningful choices, and that many women and girls were forced to perform menial labor as a form of correction. She also recognised that prejudice, including on grounds of race and disability, shaped experiences and outcomes.
Survivor Reactions
Phil Frampton, a survivor and campaigner from Manchester, was born in 1953 at Rosemundy mother and baby home in St Agnes, Cornwall, because his parents were in a mixed-heritage relationship. He described the apology as “a huge and historic victory for all those unmarried mothers and their children who had committed no crime but were persecuted by the church.” He added that while the church has much more to do to undo the harm, the apology will help lift decades of shame and guilt off survivors.
However, the Adult Adoptee Movement, a survivors organisation, criticised the apology, stating there had been “no offer of redress or support” and accused the church of downplaying its role and insulting survivors. They said engaging with the church’s apology process was distressing and retraumatising.
Church’s Research and Acknowledgment
The church said the apology followed a research project that drew on incomplete records, first-hand accounts, media reports, and parliamentary scrutiny. The aim was to better understand its role within a wider system shaped by social attitudes and laws of the time, when unmarried mothers faced stigma and limited support.
The Church of England admitted being involved in potentially more than 200 homes, with the number of mothers and babies probably in the tens of thousands in a decentralised system. It noted that its moral welfare council’s guidance was clear that mothers and babies should be kept together where possible, and any adoption should be consensual, but acknowledged that this was not always followed in practice.
The church insisted there were examples of kindness in the system, but standards and experiences varied between homes. In some cases, attitudes were judgmental, conditions difficult, and limited resources and social pressures shaped outcomes.
Archbishop Mullally paid tribute to survivors and survivor organisations who testified. She said: “The shame you were made to feel was wrong … we are deeply ashamed that this happened to people in the care of Christian communities. All of this took place in a society that often valued secrecy and respectability over compassion and care. The Church of England was part of that society and helped to sustain those attitudes. Our commitment now is to listen, to lament and to learn – to acknowledge this history … and to ensure that this leads to change. We pray for all people who carry these experiences.”
