Government to apologise to victims of forced adoptions in England

The government is to apologise to victims of historical forced adoptions in England, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said, following years of campaigning from mothers and adoptees.

An estimated 185,000 babies were taken from mothers in the three decades after World War Two. Thousands of the mothers were pressured into giving up babies for adoption because they were unmarried.

Phillipson told the House of Commons Education Committee the government would apologise to all those affected, adding that the prime minister would have more to say on what she called a "shameful period".

She said the statement would be made "very soon", without specifying exactly when.

BBC reporting on the issue previously led to parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) setting up an inquiry in 2021.

Phillipson told the Education Committee on Wednesday: "I know that you and the committee will want to hear that this government will very soon be making a full apology on behalf of the state to all of those affected by historic forced adoption in England.

"The prime minister will have more to say on this shameful period in our history, reflecting the gravity of what has happened."

She added that those affected would "get the apology that you so profoundly deserve".

In a report published in March, the committee urged the government to urgently apologise for the state's role in forced adoption.

It found there was no single perpetrator of the practice in Britain, but "government decisions shaped the environment in which unmarried mothers were often shamed and coerced into having their children put up for adoption".

The report called for access to records for adoptees and mothers to be improved, as well as access to trauma-informed support for those navigating contact or reunions with family.

It stopped short of recommending financial redress to victims, but called on the government to "rigorously assess" how other countries had responded to historical forced adoption, including Australia, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

In a previous Education Committee session earlier this year, education minister Josh MacAlister said he accepted "the state had a role" in the practice.

The JCHR committee has also previously recommended ministers apologise to women who were "railroaded" into unwanted adoptions.

In 2023, the-then Conservative government said it was "sorry" for forced adoptions, but refused to officially apologise, saying "the state did not actively support these practices".

The Scottish and Welsh governments apologised to victims in 2023 after further BBC News stories, and it was reported in April this year that the Church of England is also expected to apologise for its role in historical forced adoptions.