{"id":7629,"date":"2026-07-02T16:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/uks-starmer-apologises-for-the-states-role-in-decades-of-forced-adoptions\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T16:35:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:35:28","slug":"uks-starmer-apologises-for-the-states-role-in-decades-of-forced-adoptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/uks-starmer-apologises-for-the-states-role-in-decades-of-forced-adoptions\/","title":{"rendered":"UK\u2019s Starmer apologises for the state\u2019s role in decades of forced adoptions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>UK government and Christian churches oversaw system that separated 185,000 babies from their mothers from 1949 to 1976.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has issued a formal apology over the forced adoption of babies born to unmarried British mothers in the decades after World War II, describing the scheme as a \u201cstain on our history\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Between 1949 and 1976, the British government and Christian churches oversaw a system that coerced and shamed mothers \u2013 many of whom were teenagers \u2013 into giving up their babies. An estimated 185,000 children were forcibly adopted.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/the-listening-post\/2026\/6\/28\/starmer-couldnt-master-the-media-can-burnham\">Starmer couldn\u2019t master the media. Can Burnham?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/29\/uks-likely-next-leader-andy-burnham-to-unveil-economic-devolution-agenda\">UK\u2019s likely next leader Andy Burnham to unveil economic, devolution plans<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/29\/burnham-pledges-devolution-and-discipline-if-he-becomes-uk-prime-minister\">Burnham pledges devolution and discipline if he becomes UK prime minister<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/6\/30\/uks-starmer-announces-300-billion-pound-defence-investment-plan\">UK\u2019s Starmer announces 300-billion-pound defence investment plan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Addressing parliament on Thursday, Starmer said the government was \u201cdeeply and profoundly sorry\u201d to \u201cevery single person impacted\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe state did not do enough to protect mothers, children and families from harm, and for this systemic failure I am truly sorry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Starmer\u2019s speech came weeks after the Church of England apologised for its role in forced adoptions, particularly running \u201cmother and baby homes\u201d where pregnant women were sent \u2013 often against their will \u2013 to be separated from their children.<\/p>\n<p>A parliamentary committee recommended an official government apology four years ago after an investigation found myriad abuses against mothers.<\/p>\n<p>Australia apologised for its own history of forced adoptions in 2013, followed by Ireland in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>In the UK, Starmer acknowledged the practice was systemically embedded \u201cacross local authorities, across voluntary and faith-based institutions and in health and social care services\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He said the government would spend \u00a34 million ($5.3m) to help people access their adoption records, fund secondary services that work to reconnect relatives and seek research documenting long-term effects on victims.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"shame-and-indignity\">\u2018Shame and indignity\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The 2022 parliamentary committee documented the \u201cinhumane\u201d and \u201ccruel\u201d treatment of mothers-to-be.<\/p>\n<p>Practices included the deliberate withholding of painkillers during labour and after childbirth to \u201cpunish\u201d the women, as well as ripping babies away from their sobbing mothers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave you learnt your lesson now?\u201d one woman said a doctor told her while she was in labour.<\/p>\n<p>Another survivor recalled a doctor saying she \u201cshould be sterilised, as I must be a nymphomaniac\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Although abortion was legalised in England, Scotland and Wales in 1967, women faced barriers in access, including doctors who refused to provide the service.<\/p>\n<p>In the Church of England\u2019s statement last month, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally apologised for the \u201cpain, shame and indignity\u201d placed upon mothers and children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe shame you were made to feel was wrong \u2026 Rather, we are deeply ashamed that this happened to people in the care of Christian communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Starmer echoed those remarks on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe shame is on the state and all those that were responsible for this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UK government and Christian churches oversaw system that separated 185,000 babies from their mothers from 1949 to 1976. United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has issued a formal apology over the forced adoption of babies born to unmarried British mothers in the decades after World War II, describing the scheme as a \u201cstain on our &#8230; <a title=\"UK\u2019s Starmer apologises for the state\u2019s role in decades of forced adoptions\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/uks-starmer-apologises-for-the-states-role-in-decades-of-forced-adoptions\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about UK\u2019s Starmer apologises for the state\u2019s role in decades of forced adoptions\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}