Churches acknowledge the suffering of birth mothers, but apologies are lacking: 'Profound and painful event'

The fact that unmarried women formerly had to give up their newborn children was “a profound and painful event”. 

The Interchurch Contact in Government Affairs (CIO), a partnership of approximately thirty church denominations, announced on Tuesday that the churches acknowledge the suffering. No apologies are being offered.

Family at the center

According to the churches, the value of the family is central to the Biblical tradition. “Based on that premise, keeping mother and child together has been an important guiding principle. Precisely for this reason, it is painful to see that practice at that time was not always in line with those intentions.”

The churches promise that they “continue to convey that the separation of mother and child is not in accordance with their beliefs”. They also want to give parents and children access to the information they hold, and offer people “pastoral guidance and support”. The CIO hopes that this contributes “to recognition, care and, where possible, processing and healing”.

Birth mothers

Between 1956 and 1984, approximately 15,000 unmarried mothers were forced to give up their children for adoption . This occurred, for example, under pressure from family, the church, and child protection services. It often involved young women. Pregnancy outside of marriage was considered a great disgrace at that time.

The practice has caused great harm to both the so-called birth mothers and their children, an investigative commission led by pedagogue Micha de Winter concluded last year. Some mothers never saw their child again, while others only came into contact with them after many years. Children sometimes ended up in a care home , without a stable and loving environment. The cabinet announced last month that it intends to offer an official apology before the summer.

The CIO includes, among others, the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the Reformed Churches, the Remonstrant Brotherhood, Pentecostal congregations, and the Jewish community.