Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has delivered a formal state apology in the House of Commons for the forced adoption of babies from unmarried mothers in the decades after the Second World War, branding the practice a “stain on our history”. Survivors in the Commons gallery were seen wiping away tears as the apology was delivered on Thursday.
Sir Keir echoed the words of the Church of England’s lead bishop, who issued an apology last month, telling the women: “The shame was never yours, the shame is ours.” An estimated 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976.
Decades of Campaigning for Justice
In recent decades, mothers forced to give up their babies described the harrowing experience of having them taken away and the feelings of shame they still live with. Those who were taken from their mothers have also spoken of a “harmful narrative” that long persisted—that adoption had saved them as children. While administrations in Cardiff and Holyrood issued formal apologies in 2023, it was not until Thursday that the Westminster Government said sorry.
At a meeting with campaigners in Downing Street ahead of the statement, Sir Keir told the women they had suffered a “double injustice” in having had to wait so long for a state apology. The Joint Committee on Human Rights recommended one in 2022, stating that “the Government bears ultimate responsibility for the pain and suffering caused by public institutions and state employees that railroaded mothers into unwanted adoptions.” However, the then-Conservative government in 2023 said it did not think a formal apology appropriate “since the state did not actively support these practices.”
‘Embedded Within Systems’
On Thursday, Sir Keir told MPs that what happened to “tens of thousands of mothers, children, and families, should never have happened.” He added: “Mothers, many young, vulnerable and without support, were coerced, bullied, or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them. These were not isolated or accidental acts, they were practices embedded within systems across local authorities, across voluntary and faith-based institutions, and in health and social care services, including parts of what is now the NHS.”
The Prime Minister said the harms caused were “compounded by the actions and failures of the state,” with governments having “funded, enabled and relied on systems that were not consistently or effectively overseen.” He stated that the state was “deeply and profoundly sorry to the mothers who were told they were unfit, who were prevented from caring for the children they desperately wanted to help and to keep, and who have carried this loss for decades.” He also recognised the “sons and daughters, the children who are now adults, who, through pressure and coercion within these systems, were taken from their families, denied their identity, their history, and sometimes their safety.”
Support Package Announced
The Movement for an Adoption Apology (MAA) said the formal apology recognises the “lifelong trauma” endured by mothers who had their babies forcibly adopted. The campaign group, founded in 2010, said: “Though this apology has come too late for a significant number of people, it is a positive step for the hundreds of thousands of mothers still living with loss, whose suffering has at last been acknowledged, and for the children who were taken – now adult adoptees – whose lifelong trauma has now been recognised.”
Meanwhile, the Adult Adoptee Movement said the apology is for “the adoptees who were taken at their most vulnerable and sent to strangers.” They added: “It marks a fundamental correction of the narrative on historic adoption practices. What happened to you was wrong.” While no compensation scheme has been put in place, a £4 million support package over three years has been announced to help those affected. The funding will go towards better access to adoption records and improved services for family reunion. The Government also pledged to commission a project to gather testimonials of those who have experience of historical forced adoption.
Apology Follows Church of England’s Lead
The Westminster apology comes two weeks after one from the Church of England for its role in historic forced adoption. Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally said the impact on families had been “lifelong” for many and noted survivors had spoken of the “indignity” they faced. She apologised for the “pain, trauma and stigma” caused to those affected, telling survivors the “shame is ours.” In Northern Ireland, an apology is also expected but not until after a public inquiry has been carried out, following a recommendation from a 2021 report on mother and baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses.
