UK PM Starmer apologises for historical forced adoptions
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has formally apologised in Parliament for the forced adoption of hundreds of thousands of children from unmarried mothers in post-war England, a practice spanning three decades.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has formally apologised in the House of Commons for historical forced adoptions in England, addressing an audience that included mothers and adult adoptees directly affected by the practice.
"To all those impacted and affected," Starmer said, "I say this: the shame is not yours. The shame was never yours. The shame is ours." He praised those affected for their courage and resilience in campaigning for truth and justice, describing the practice as "a stain on our history."
Scale of the practice
According to historical estimates, between 300,000 and 500,000 children in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland were removed from their mothers over three decades following the Second World War. Most of these women were single, and their children were given up for adoption without their free and informed consent.
The apology follows earlier formal acknowledgements by governments in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, as well as by other nations.
The culture of shame
A culture of shame rooted in Catholic, Protestant, and other religious traditions underpinned the system, dating back to the 19th century and enduring throughout the 20th. The welfare model that emerged in Britain and Ireland in the post-war era was deeply gendered: women and children qualified for government support only as the wives, widows, or children of male breadwinners.
The shame is not yours. The shame was never yours. The shame is ours.
Single mothers — then pejoratively termed "unmarried mothers" — faced systemic discrimination. Governments in the UK and Ireland failed to provide housing or financial support, making it virtually impossible for these women to achieve financial independence through their own earning power. Single mothers and their "illegitimate" children were cast as threats to the moral and economic fabric of society.
Sending many of them to institutions to give birth and have their babies adopted was invested with strong moral force. Secrecy was a key mechanism: it protected the system, reinforced women's shame, and made their reintegration into society contingent on their compliance and silence.
In 1943, the UK Ministry of Health introduced subsidies for mother-and-baby homes in England, a policy that institutionalised the practice.
Long-awaited recognition
Campaigners and scholars emphasize that while the formal apology is welcome, it is long overdue. Activists in both Ireland and the UK have fought for decades for justice and recognition of the damage inflicted on affected families.
As Starmer acknowledged, authorities exploited the vulnerability of single mothers and their infants, using their power to enforce a system that left lasting trauma across generations.