British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday issued a formal apology on behalf of the British state for its role in the historical practice of forced adoptions in England and Wales, acknowledging the lifelong trauma inflicted on unmarried mothers, their children and families.Addressing Parliament, Starmer said the state had failed tens of thousands of people subjected to a system that coerced many women into surrendering their babies between 1949 and 1976, when social stigma around pregnancy outside marriage was prevalent.“The shame is not yours. The shame was never yours. The shame is ours,” Starmer said, adding that young and vulnerable mothers were “coerced, bullied, or misled” into believing they had no choice but to give up their children. He described the practice as “a stain on our history.”According to estimates, around 185,000 babies were separated from their mothers during the period. The system involved local authorities, religious organisations and parts of what is now the National Health Service (NHS), with campaigners alleging that doctors, nurses and social workers often pressured women into adoption because they were unmarried.The apology follows years of campaigning by birth mothers, adoptees and advocacy groups, as well as recommendations from multiple parliamentary inquiries.Alongside the apology, the UK government announced a £4 million support package to help people access adoption records, reconnect with family members and preserve testimonies documenting the long-term impact of forced adoptions, The Guardian reported.The government also pledged to improve access to mental health services and establish a lived-experience reference group to monitor implementation of its commitments.Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said, “The pain carried by mothers, adopted children and their families who suffered this appalling injustice is unimaginable. Today, on behalf of the British state, we say with one voice: this was wrong, and we are sorry.”She added that while an apology could not undo the past, it marked the beginning of “real change” through practical support.Before making the statement in Parliament, Starmer met campaigners at Downing Street, including former Labour MP Ann Keen, whose son was adopted in 1966 when she was 17. Keen said the apology would finally help lift decades of misplaced shame.“We all need this apology because we have always been accused of giving up our babies, and we didn’t give them up,” she told the BBC.A report published in March by the House of Commons Education Committee concluded that government policies had “shaped the environment in which unmarried mothers were often shamed and coerced into having their children put up for adoption.”It called for a formal state apology, improved access to adoption records and greater support for families seeking reunions.An earlier report by Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights had also urged a formal apology. However, the previous Conservative government declined to issue one, saying in 2023 that while it was “sorry on behalf of society”, it did not believe the state had actively supported the practice.The apology brings the UK government in line with similar acknowledgements made by the devolved governments in Wales and Scotland, while Northern Ireland is expected to consider a formal apology after a public inquiry into mother-and-baby institutions.Similar apologies have also been issued in Ireland and Australia, Reuters reported.
Church of England apologises for role in forced adoptions
The Church of England apologised for its role in the system last month, acknowledging its involvement in running mother-and-baby homes where many unmarried women were sent and later separated from their babies.Sarah Mullally, the Archbishop of York acting in her capacity as a senior Church leader, said victims had endured “pain, trauma and suffering” when they should instead have received “care and compassion.”