Historical Forced Adoption

We are in agreement as a Committee that the survivors’ testimony, which was a formal Parliamentary proceeding and live broadcast, was some of the most powerful, moving and compelling evidence we have heard. We would like to place on the record our heartfelt thanks for their bravery, honesty and eloquence. (Conclusion, Paragraph 2)

To give an idea of the scale of this issue, it is estimated that around 185,000 children were adopted between 1949 and 1976. Not all adoptions happened in the appalling circumstances described by our lived experience witnesses - for example, sometimes children were orphaned. People with lived experience may have a diverse range of views on what happened, and of course not everyone’s experience was the same, with some happily more positive; but a diversity of views does not dilute the harm that many suffered and whose testimony we have heard. (Conclusion, Paragraph 3)

Survivors of forced adoption must not have to repeat, in public, their harrowing stories anymore. It is clear that decisive Government action, beginning with a co-authored apology, and continuing with a programme of fully funded support for survivors, must now happen without delay, so that survivors can get on with their lives. We go on to consider the evidence for an apology, as well as other measures, in detail in the remainder of this short report; but we begin by stating that the Government must act now; and by asking, exceptionally, that the Government provides an initial response, setting out a timetable for developing and issuing its apology, within one month in recognition of the huge cost to survivors of continued delay and inaction. (Conclusion, Paragraph 8) An apology

Historical forced adoption practices involved systemic coercion, the removal of parental choice and often resulted in deep trauma and lifelong consequences for mental and physical health. A formal apology is necessary to acknowledge these harms and to recognise the state’s role in 28 permitting them. We should be clear that the scope of the apology should extend beyond the 1949–1976 period as we have received clear evidence that the practices associated with forced adoptions happened before 1949 and continued after the introduction of the Adoption Act 1976. (Conclusion, Paragraph 28)

Furthermore, many of those affected - both mothers and adult adoptees - are now elderly, and any further delay risks denying them the recognition they have waited decades to receive. Given the advancing age of those affected, time is now a critical factor. (Conclusion, Paragraph 29)

The meaningful involvement of survivors in the design and implementation of an apology is essential to ensure that the apology validates their experiences and that the mitigations put in place thereafter support them directly. The Government must embed mothers and adoptees’ voices at every stage of the process of an apology. (Conclusion, Paragraph 30)

The Government must provide an unqualified, formal apology to all those affected by historical forced adoption practices, including unmarried mothers who were forced to give up their children for adoption, adult adoptees who were forcibly taken from their birth families, unmarried mothers who were able to keep their children, but who were nevertheless subject to cruel practices, punishments and stigma, as well as birth fathers, siblings and other family members. (Recommendation, Paragraph 31)

The Government must give an initial commitment to an apology, and must undertake the preliminary work for an apology - including working with survivor groups - as quickly as possible and commit publicly to a clear timetable for developing and issuing its apology. (Recommendation, Paragraph 32)

The Government must work directly with mothers, adult adoptees and lived-experience organisations to co-author both the apology and the measures that follow it. Co-production should run through all subsequent commitments on accessing records, trauma-informed health support, intermediary services, research and long-term representation in policymaking. (Recommendation, Paragraph 33) The State’s involvement

Evidence shows that government policy decisions, funding arrangements and legislative frameworks shaped the environment in which unmarried mothers were routinely denied any meaningful choice in whether or not they could keep their children and were often shamed and coerced into submitting to have their children put up for adoption. (Conclusion, Paragraph 38) 29

We are encouraged by the Minister’s acceptance that the state had a role in historical forced adoptions. However, the Government must go further by acknowledging the central role that the state had during this time. (Conclusion, Paragraph 39)

The Government should formally and publicly recognise that the state played a central role in enabling and sustaining historical forced adoption practices. Acknowledging this responsibility is essential in order to correct the public record, address previous misrepresentations, reduce the burden of blame and shame felt by many mothers and adoptees and the feelings of abandonment and rejection felt by many adoptees, and lay the groundwork for a credible apology and meaningful redress for those affected. (Recommendation, Paragraph 40) Working with survivors

Survivors of historical forced adoption practices have stressed the profound emotional burden of continually recounting their experiences and the many years they have spent campaigning without feeling heard by Government. It is clear to us that ongoing, structured dialogue with survivors is not an optional extra but a foundation for meaningful progress. (Conclusion, Paragraph 43)

The Government must listen to and engage with survivors of forced adoption practices. The Government should commit to a survivor engagement strategy that guarantees regular consultation and clear lines of accountability, both in the short term as the Government works towards an apology, and for the long-term to ensure that survivors’ experiences and insights directly inform the Government’s decision-making processes and that they are able to hold the Government to account for the impact of the apology. (Recommendation, Paragraph 44) Learning from other countries

The Government must undertake a rigorous assessment of international responses to historical forced adoptions, with special attention to the redress mechanisms introduced in Australia, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This learning should inform a UK approach that avoids symbolic or incomplete action and instead delivers a comprehensive, fully-resourced, survivor-led response. (Recommendation, Paragraph 54) 30 Improving access to adoption records

The Government must take urgent action to ensure that all existing adoption records are preserved and protected from deterioration, destruction or loss. It should legislate to introduce a clear statutory duty on every record-holding institution to maintain and securely store their records. (Recommendation, Paragraph 62)

The Government must take steps to ensure that all affected individuals receive timely, consistent and transparent access to adoption records. This obligation should be underpinned by clear statutory duties requiring every record-holding body to maintain accurate records and meet nationally defined standards for disclosure. The Government should establish a single, standardised national access point for adoption records, something that survivors recommended to us. (Recommendation, Paragraph 63)

The Government should issue new guidance to local authorities to improve the experience of birth mothers and adult adoptees seeking information about their records, with additional resources provided to local authorities so that requests for access to records do not have to compete with current child safeguarding priorities and that access to records is supported by better training of local authority staff. (Recommendation, Paragraph 64)

Beyond this, it was clear from our evidence that as well as safeguarding and maintaining records, organisations holding records must ensure they take steps to respond to and help survivors in a way that is sensitive to the challenges for survivors in approaching an organisation that may have been complicit in the harm that was done to them. This should involve not only enhanced training for staff, but also ensuring that organisations reflect on their history and present it in a way which reflects the evidence as we now understand it - that women were coerced into adoption without consent, and suffered abuse, and that this resulted in lifelong trauma both for mothers and for their children; and that the system was cruel, traumatising and stigmatising for women who were placed in Mother and Baby Homes, even when they were able to keep their babies. (Recommendation, Paragraph 65) Improving intermediary support for adoptees and birth families

The Government must introduce a nationally funded and regulated intermediary service to ensure that all adoptees and birth relatives have access to skilled, trauma-informed professionals who can support them in navigating contact, reunion, or information-sharing processes safely and sensitively. As part of this process the Government should also ensure 31 that online ancestry tracing and DNA testing sites offer clear support and signposting for people who find out they are adopted, and should consult on whether such sites need to be regulated. (Recommendation, Paragraph 73) A dedicated mental health support pathway

The Government must introduce a dedicated, trauma-informed health pathway for all those affected by historical forced adoption. This should include improved access to specialist psychological support for birth mothers and adult adoptees, national clinical guidance recognising the heightened prevalence of complex PTSD and suicide risk in these groups, and consistent provision across England through a single national service specification. (Recommendation, Paragraph 78)

Adult adoptees told us that one of the harms they experienced was the loss of their health records. The Government should introduce an adoption marker on health records so that requests for medical history can be sensitively handled and additional screening and testing offered where needed. (Recommendation, Paragraph 79) Learning and improving practice

The Government should commission and fund independent research into historical forced adoption, including quantitative and qualitative studies on outcomes and on best practice for support interventions, to build a comprehensive evidence base that informs future policy decisions and improves support for survivor. (Recommendation, Paragraph 82) 32