Written evidence from Origins Scotland (ACU0037)

Summary: This is a response by Scottish mothers. We hope to corroborate evidence that the committee may receive from mothers of MAA who gave birth in England or Wales prior to 1976. We believe that a full public inquiry, such as that commissioned by the Australian Senate is necessary to assess the scale, nature and consequences of historic adoption practices in the UK. Our submission provides anecdotal evidence in response to key questions set by this JCHR inquiry, that is largely concordant with Australian findings. In short, we contend that the right to family life was not respected, nor was the right to freedom from degrading treatment.

This is a submission on behalf of Origins Scotland, which is affiliated with Origins International – an organisation which was founded in Australia in 1995 by Dian Wellfare. Origins International has branches in a number of countries including Australia, United States, Canada and New Zealand. Origins Scotland was set up in 2010 by Marion McMillan, who has now stepped back due to ill health. A number of our mothers, including Marion, have collaborated with the Movement for an Adoption Apology(MAA) over the years since it’s formation, and have made contributions to associated activism in Scotland and at Westminster. It is surprising and disappointing that our mothers are not included in this JHRC inquiry. In addition, our members had babies taken for adoption in the 60’s, late 70’s and early 80’s, with a significant proportion in the later period after 1976.

Accounts of forced adoption practices are difficult to obtain and verify. Women who were traumatised, humiliated and shamed are often reluctant to speak, and very reluctant to be identified. Prior to the advent of internet forums and facebook groups, it was difficult for those affected by adoption to find one another. For many, first contact with another mother was the first occasion on which they realised that many of their troubling experiences were far from unique. Following a recent BBC documentary, mothers and adoptees have contacted Origins, and while not all of those wished to join a campaign, all showed a strong desire to share their experiences.

A full public inquiry, as ordered by the Senate in Australia, would be the only way to determine the scale, nature and consequences of the policies and practices which facilitated historic forced adoption. The Senate report resulted in the commissioning of formal research - Past adoption experiences National Research Study on the Service Response to Past Adoption Practices Pauline Kenny, Daryl Higgins, Carol Soloff and Reem Sweid

We decided it was right for us to make a submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry to support our Movement for Adoption Apology friends. Our submission will be anecdotal, rather than quantitative. However, we are very confident that our evidence will corroborate the submissions made by those in England and Wales, as it is largely concordant with the findings of the Australian research.

Was the right to family life of unmarried mothers and their children, as we understand it now, respected at the time?

The right to family life of mothers and their sons and daughters certainly wasn’t respected at the time. However, forced adoption also deprived fathers, grandparents and siblings from forming relationships with their relatives, including the children of those who were adopted. Currently, only adoptees themselves are entitled to identifying information. Many adoptees were removed from the UK to Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which adds an additional layer to the loss and separation

Mothers wrote:

‘Within a week I received a call from an Australian male, it was my baby D, he opened the conversation with Hi Mum, I received your letter and have waited for this day all my life, it was such an emotional phone call for both of us. P and G (full siblings) were over the moon that they had found their real big Brother.

……..flew D and my little grandson … who was 9 at the time over from Sydney, when I held him in my arms it felt like just last week at that awful home our bond had never been broken it was still there and instant, P and G got to meet their big Brother at last and he spent 10 days at my home which was wonderful and slotted in like he'd always been there’ (Mother A of baby adopted in 1962)

‘My father fought his way through terrible weather conditions to get to the hospital to meet his first grandchild. However, my son was removed from me at birth, and my father died without ever meeting him’ (Mother B of baby adopted in 1979)

In light of our experiences and testimonies, some of which are outlined below, it is our position that Article 3 of the UK Human Rights Act UK, regarding freedom from degrading treatment should also be considered

How social practices at the time contributed to unmarried women not being able to keep their babies and what if any, other reasons contributed to women feeling compelled to have their babies adopted?

There is much public comment about social pressures on mothers and they certainly existed to an extent.

The overall message which I absorbed from people including GP, Social Work, was that I was worthless and did not deserve to keep my own child, that a married couple deserved my baby because they could not have one of their own and they would give it a much better life than I could.’ (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978)

‘I wanted someone to hug me and help me, but my mum said ‘You do know that if you decide to keep the baby, you won’t be able to stay here? I was sent away from my family in Edinburgh to a home for unmarried mothers in Newcastle.’ (Mother F of baby adopted in 1982)

However, whether women stayed with their families or resided elsewhere, the vast majority of deliveries took place in NHS hospitals, and local authority social workers facilitated the removal of babies and handled legalities. There were many practices within institutions which cascaded to ensure that mothers felt compelled to have their sons and daughters adopted. These abusive practices continued to operate even in the absence of family pressure or perceived risk to the baby.

They include:

Heavily pregnant women being forced to do menial labour in mother and baby homes

Mother A told us that when she recently visited the house where the home had been, she was confronted with the staircase that she had been tasked with cleaning and polishing, every day, whether or not there was any need.

Isolation of mothers during and after labour

Several mothers told us that they were left alone in labour for long periods. Staff who attended them periodically were typically cold or hostile.

‘The nurse assigned to me did not speak to me except to issue instructions. . I had no one to speak with, it was a lonely frightening experience. I remember little about the labour and the birth except being in shock at the whole experience and being told it was a boy and being aware that he was in a cot beside me briefly before being taken away. I was not asked if I would like to see or hold him.’ (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978)

Babies being removed at birth

There are many accounts of this, particularly from mothers who were not resident in mother and baby homes, but who arrived at hospitals, unmarried.

‘All went well until I was induced and in labour. Two hours into labour, my consultant stormed into room and threw baby’s dad out of the room screaming he didn’t know we weren’t married and how dare I think I could have someone with me. I was then left to go through another 22 hours of labour before a c section. No one knew my darling boy had been born until 5 hours later. I wasn’t allowed to see him but a kind nurse brought him to my room and held him up to let me see him. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to see him and thought there might be something wrong with him. The next morning, two social workers arrived telling me that, as I wasn’t married it would be in the best interest of the baby to be adopted and if I cared that was what I would agree to. Adoption had not once crossed my mind . The ward sister was then sent to try to convince me. I just couldn’t fathom this out. I had enough resources to care for my child and support from my mother. I stood firm.’ (Mother D of baby who escaped adoption in 1978)

Mother B and mother C, also had their babies removed from them at birth in the delivery room with no prior notice. A mother E who contacted us, told us of her experience of having her baby removed at birth and only glimpsing her at an angle because a porter made the mistake of transporting her and her baby in the lift at the same time. Mother E lost her baby in 1978, when she was transferred from a local maternity unit, to a large maternity hospital in a Scottish city. Until that time, her GP had been supportive of her keeping her child, and she had no contact with social services regarding adoption.

Obstetric violence and neglectful medical practices

‘I was treated horribly on arrival and brutally in the delivery room. I was given a drug to speed up labour in spite of having been in labour for only a few hours and being almost fully dilated. My son went into distress and had to be removed by forceps. I was cut and stitched up with no anaesthetic, in spite of telling the doctor that he was causing me extreme pain. His only response was to tell the junior nurse to move me back down the delivery table. At some point during this process my son was removed from the room. I was then left alone in a very cold room for four hours with only a paper sheet to cover me. No one came to the room during that time and I remember that I was afraid that if I haemorrhaged, there would be no one to help me’(Mother B of baby adopted in 1979)

Denial of pain relief

‘As I was transferred to a postnatal ward in the evening. I asked the nurse for some pain relief. She told me that the drugs trolley was finished for the night, and I would have to wait until the next day. I asked her if she had any paracetamol on her handbag could she please give me two. She said that I could have a cup of tea. I was in a four bed room alone. I don’t believe that I saw another member of staff until the next day.’ (Mother B of baby adopted in 1979)

Babies removed later without notice

‘I slept at the bottom of my bed where D’s cot was as I couldn't be apart from him and I needed to be close to him and him I. In the 6 weeks I nursed my baby D, not one person advised me on what they were planning to do behind the scenes, I just assumed I was to live here now with my wee Baby D and I could have, as I just loved him so much nothing else mattered to me. One day I was feeding D who was 6 weeks old now, and someone from the home approached me to say they'd finish feeding him as Matron wanted to see me. I reluctantly passed D to her as I wasn't used to anyone feeding him apart from myself. I went to see the Matron who then told me I was to go and pack my bags.’ (Mother A of baby adopted in 1962)

Limiting access to babies

Some mothers from Mother and baby homes have described that babies were kept in the nurseries and were only allowed to be lifted for feeding at specific times. Breaking the rules, resulted in one mother being removed to sleep in the nearby homeless shelter as punishment

Coercion by social workers

It is clear from the accounts that we have heard from mothers, that if a mother who was unmarried arrived at a maternity hospital, the local social work department was notified, regardless of whether any adoption alert had been placed in medical files. Babies were removed from mothers at birth and contact with them was denied. Social workers would then arrive to pressure women to consent to adoption. In fact the only choice that they often gave to women was between immediate adoption and allowing babies to languish in foster care while mothers fought to get them back. This was not a legal position, but it was simple for professionals to convince distressed young mothers that this was their position, since all that they could perceive was that the authorities had already taken their babies.

We are aware of two mothers whose babies were taken directly from the hospital by the adoptive parents, in such circumstances.

What, if any, information and support were provided to expectant mothers to help them make decisions or to enable them to keep their baby?

We know of no mothers who were given any information about supplementary benefit or housing. One mother asked the social worker about such support and was told that none existed.

‘Our GP’s response to my pregnancy was that abortion was not an option due to fairly advanced stage, but he immediately recommended adoption and he contacted social work to facilitate this. A Social worker visited our home and at no point asked me if this was what I wanted. She did not inform me that myself and my baby would have been entitled to housing and benefits. The Social worker was only interested in obtaining details including colour of my eyes, hair etc to help enable a good match with potential adopters.’ (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978).

The role played by legal consent of the parents in any adoption, how consent was given, what effect it had on children whose parents did not consent, and how the standards of consent have changed since the 1950s?

There are few mothers who can recollect very much about signing any documents. There is so much trauma arising from the event of the removal of the baby, that the signing of papers subsequently when the baby is already apparently irretrievable, was much less memorable. Many mothers have questions about the process and would like to see copies of documents that they have signed, but face significant barriers to accessing records and information.

A day or so after my son’s birth the woman organising the adoption came to the hospital with a woman who she said was a justice of the peace. They instructed me to sign something. I do not know what I signed, and I never received a copy.

….a second signature was taken while I was at work, a woman came to see me and asked me to speak with her in her car, I did not and still don’t know who she was. I just accepted she was an adult with authority. She told me it was in connection with the adoption, and she got me to sign something, again I do not know what I signed and I never received a copy. (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978)

In every case that we know of, there was a failure to advise the mother of her right to rescind the decision to relinquish, and the effective procedures to do so.

‘As the interview ended (in hospital), I was left with the understanding that I was never going to be allowed to leave with my child in any case, and that the paperwork that I had already signed would have given social services the right to keep my son. I asked her if I should be taking legal advice, since I must have signed a document that I hadn’t understood. She said that there was no point. I was transferred to a different hospital without my baby on the following day.

Several months later, I was asked to visit the home of a local Justice of the Peace. He explained that if I now signed the consent form, I would no longer be able to change my mind. I had no idea, in the intervening time that I had this choice. I had a good job by this time, and I was tempted to fight to get my baby. However, I couldn’t bear to remove him from the arms of a woman that he thought was his mother. He had already endured that.’ (Mother B of baby adopted in 1979)

It is difficult to imagine these procedures being accepted today. According to a social worker…..

‘(Nowadays)There are also strict criteria for when pre birth or parenting capacity assessment work commences and generally needs be as part of a child protection plan… so the risks (or potential risks) to the child need to be evidenced and analysed. In none of the experiences of the women of MAA or Origins, has there been any evidence of structured professional judgement or consideration of a strengths based approach. ‘ (Sibling of baby adopted in 1978)

How the experience of being adopted, or having a child who was adopted between 1949 and 1976 impacted on the family life of the unmarried mother, child, and others?

Many mothers and adopted people speak of ongoing mental health issues, anxiety and depression. They talk about the lifelong impact on family and other relationships due to feelings of shame and entrenched secrecy. They talk about failing to reach their potential due to feeling a lack of self-worth.

‘My second son was born two years after the adoption of my first. I loved him so much but felt guilt and shame that he and his older brother had been robbed of growing up together.’ (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978)

‘…..the mental health damage it's obviously caused my Mum, my mental health has suffered due to it and I know my late Brother suffered too as we often discussed how we were robbed of a real big Brother who should have been part of our family.

I'm eternally grateful I got 10 days with him however I had to let him go and this has ripped me apart as I had managed to get him home for my Mum and G and I, only to leave us, these people actually don't know the mental damage they've caused ……’ (Full sibling of baby adopted in 1962)

How the lack of recognition of the impact of adoption practices between 1949 and 1976 has affected those whose child was adopted or who were adopted as a child during this time?

The link between trauma and historic adoption practices has not been researched or recognised by medical professionals or the public in this country. This has resulted in a failure to adequately support the mental health needs of people affected by forced adoption. One adoptee who contacted us, told us that she has searched in Scotland, and has interviewed practitioners extensively, looking for adoption informed help for adults, and is now being directed to online services in the United States.

I have suffered depression and anxiety ever since my baby was adopted when I was sixteen. Any GP consultations have been short, have never identified the link between the adoption of my baby and my mental health and only resulted in a prescription. (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978)

The only sources of support or counselling available to mothers, has been through former or current adoption agencies e.g. Birthlink, Barnardos etc. This has been woefully inadequate.

Staff in these agencies have failed to understand or raise awareness that mothers of loss to adoption need peer as well as specialist trauma support.

I tried attending a Barnardos ‘Birth Mothers’ Support Group in Glasgow around the mid 1990’s but left when the Lead worker allowed a man, who claimed to be the father of a baby taken for adoption, to dominate the meetings. I heard that the group didn’t last long after that. I considered myself lucky to have found an Australian support group and forum on the internet. This was literally a lifeline for me. (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978)

A failure to recognise the lack of agency that women possessed to prevent the removal of their babies has led to a situation where mothers cannot access information that would help them to understand the processes to which they were subjected. Mothers and families of origin have no rights to access adoption court records that permanently severed their legal relationships with their family member, and requests for detailed information are frequently rebuffed by the various agencies that were involved in facilitating the adoption.

‘I personally would like someone to support me with access to all records relating to the adoption of my son.’ (Mother C of baby adopted in 1978)

27/10/2021

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