THE WELSH GOVERNMENT has announced that it will formally apologise to the mothers who were forced to give up their children for adoption in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. The move follows similar apologies by Scotland’s former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last month and Australia 10 years ago.
Thousands of unmarried women in Wales were subjected to forced adoptions, and campaigners have welcomed the apology as a significant step towards justice. The UK Parliament inquiry estimated that 185,000 babies were affected by this practice across England and Wales. The Joint Committee on Human Rights of MPs and peers found that many women were shamed and coerced into giving up their children.
Deputy Social Services Minister Julie Morgan announced the apology in the Senedd, saying sorry for the failures in society that led to the practice. Many mothers who were forcibly adopted have shared their stories, expressing how the experience affected them emotionally and culturally.
One Welsh woman who was forcibly adopted shared that she felt “robbed” of her culture after being taken from her Welsh-speaking mother. Anne Jones, who was adopted as a baby in the 1950s, said her adoptive family made her feel that she “was illegitimate and therefore wasn’t good enough”. She has been among those campaigning for a formal UK government apology and welcomed the Welsh government’s decision but was disappointed that it was not happening at the UK level.
Campaigner and former MP Ann Keen was forced to give her baby up for adoption at the age of 17. She was sent to a Swansea mother-and-baby home where she was told she could spend 10 days with her son after giving birth in January 1967. However, on day eight, he was taken away because she had become “too close,” and she never got to say goodbye. Keen, who is now a campaigner, commended the Welsh government for their apology and urged the UK to follow suit. She added that many women were talked about in terms of giving up their baby, when in fact, they were taken from them.
The apology from the Welsh government marks an important step towards acknowledging and addressing the historic injustices inflicted upon unmarried women and their children. While the consequences of forced adoptions will always stay with those affected, an apology from the authorities provides a significant recognition of the harm done and can offer a sense of closure and validation for those impacted.
