Traditionally, unmarried pregnant women were a vulnerable group. Premarital sex was taboo, but it happened, voluntarily or not. A 'fallen woman' was a disgrace to the family. She was rejected by her family and anyone who worked was fired (unmarried pregnancies were common among servants). She stood on the street with her child: the just reward for her 'whoreish behaviour'.
Around 1850, wealthy citizens began to care about these 'fallen' women. In 1848, Rev. Ottho Gerhard Heldring and deaconess Petronella Voûte founded the Asyl Steenbeek in Zetten, intended for unmarried mothers, prostitutes who wanted to leave the profession and ex-prisoners who would otherwise end up in prostitution. The assistance went hand in hand with combating prostitution. Young mothers were subjected to a strict resocialisation programme in which the cultivation of a sense of sin was central, combined with education and childcare. Such a paternalistic civilising offensive would be unthinkable today, but for the girls at the time it was perhaps the only acceptable way out of their predicament. The initiative was followed, initially mainly in Protestant circles, later also among Catholics. The homes were mainly financed by donations via the church. Government support was rare.
The latter changed with the establishment of the FIOM in 1930. After the Sickness Benefits Act was passed in 1913, a heated debate broke out over the question of whether unmarried pregnant women were entitled to benefits just like married women (pregnancy was considered an illness by law). The proponents of equality drew the short straw; it was believed to promote debauchery. Unmarried motherhood therefore remained a private matter. The aid organisations joined forces and in 1930 united in the national, cross-pillar Federation of Institutions for Unmarried Mothers and their Child (FIOM), which aimed to create conditions for better care. At the founding meeting, 25 institutions were already affiliated. FIOM received subsidies from the government.
The focus of aid began to shift at that time. The idea gained ground that an unmarried mother could best give up her child. This was good for the child, because it would grow up in a loving environment. Adoptive parents benefited from this, because adoption was the only way to combat unwanted childlessness at the time. It was also good for the mother herself, the reasoning went, because she could start with a clean slate. The emotional implications of being separated for mother and child were not discussed.
However, the number of unmarried pregnancies did not decrease. Despite all the help, it still happened that children were abandoned or offered to childless couples without the intervention of third parties. In 1940, the FIOM set up a committee that advocated the prevention of 'unorganised' relinquishment of children and a better selection of foster parents. In 1956, the Adoption Act came into force. Since then, the FIOM has focused on the guidance of relinquishment and adoption. Between 1956 and the end of the seventies, approximately 25,000 mothers in the Netherlands relinquished their babies. Relinquishment was now almost completely accepted. Later, this attitude was criticised. Today, it is difficult to imagine the moral compulsion that emanated from it.
Under the influence of the democratisation movement of the sixties, with the emancipation of women and a more open morality with regard to sexuality in its wake, the paternalistic approach of the FIOM came under fire. Unmarried motherhood was no longer a 'punishment' for 'sin' and relinquishment was no longer promoted. FIOM faced competition from the new, radically oriented shelters for abused women . In addition, the introduction of 'the pill' had led to a drastic decrease in the number of unwanted pregnancies. All this forced FIOM to reconsider its course.
FIOM now also focused on finding housing, and the target group was expanded to include all single parents. The shelters were transformed into shelters and support centres for single parents in crisis or emergency situations. In addition, the organisation played an important role in the legalisation of abortion.
In 2012, FIOM is still active. Now as a national outpatient organisation that offers psychosocial help, information and advice to anyone with problems in the areas of desired and unwanted pregnancy, teenage pregnancy or parenthood, miscarriage and abortion, relinquishment, adoption, adoptive parenthood and searches for a parent or child in connection with adoption.
