Traumas are exposed in documentary about forced adoption

It is a very charged place in Breda: the Mother Heil clinic. Young unmarried pregnant women stayed in the clinic until the 1980s. They were forced to give up their baby for adoption. This not only caused a lot of grief for the mothers, but also traumas for the children. The documentary about this loaded history can be seen on Omroep Brabant TV on Sunday.

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Noel van Hooft

'The secret of Mother Heil' is a documentary by Tom van den Oetelaar, Agnes van der Straaten and Bert Geeraets, commissioned by Omroep Brabant.

"My father didn't know I was born."

Several people are followed in the documentary. A mother who had to give up her child for adoption, three adults who were abandoned as children at Mother Heil and several people who worked at Mother Heil. Eugénie Smits van Waesberghe (57) was born on Mother Heil. Eugénie came into contact with her mother when she was 21. Nothing to worry about, at that point. Later it turned out that a lot was wrong.

“I lived in that house for a year, then I was placed with foster parents and eventually adopted,” says Eugénie. She can be seen in the documentary together with her father. “He didn't know his girlfriend was pregnant and he didn't know I was born. He's been sidelined on all sides, without seeing me grow up." This day is very special for her and the documentary is an acknowledgment for her mother, who is no longer alive.

"There's a lot of emotion in the documentary."

Documentary maker Tom van den Oetelaar was greatly surprised during the making of the film by the pain the children experience. “It's a trauma and that story has never been told. There is really a lot of emotion in the documentary.” The children's stories really came to Van den Oetelaar during the editing. “Then you see all the stories coming together. It has had a profound impact on the lives of everyone involved. I hope the film can provide insight into how women were oppressed in society," concludes Van den Oetelaar.

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