Find out how we came together, and what our aims are.
How we came about
We are a group of adult adoptees who gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) inquiry into The right to family life: adoption of children of unmarried women 1949-1976.
For some, this was a moment when we thought we were being heard and our struggles were being acknowledged. We were therefore willing to share our stories and open up about the ways in which adoption has affected us.
Growing up as an adoptee
Many of us have grown up believing that our mothers had relinquished us willingly and for our own good.
The role of the State
The testimony, and the evidence, showed how this was often not the case and that the state and its institutions, including the Church, were at least partly responsible.
Justice and reparation
We want justice and reparation for the wrongs done to birth mothers and adoptees. The gaslighting of those who question adoption should be stopped
Change the narrative of adoption
How can adoption practice ever be improved if the government only blames ‘society’, refuses to listen to lived experience, and resists meaningful change?
Feeling invisible
The JCHR published its report The Violation of Family Life: Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976 in July 2022. We were disappointed and concerned that the focus was primarily on the birth mothers, and not adoptees. We came together, united to make our voices heard. Spending many evenings on zoom – we created our own response to the report highlighting areas of missed opportunity for reform and creating our own set of 14 key recommendations for the Government.
Taking advice
We owe a huge debt of thanks to those who have supported us over the past months. We are so proud of what we have achieved, making our voices heard and hopefully making a difference. Adoptees all over the world have provided us with advice and assistance, adding perspectives from their own countries.
Our aim
We want justice and reparation for the wrongs done to birth mothers and adoptees. But more than this, we want younger adoptees to have their trauma recognised, their rights upheld, and the gaslighting of those who question adoption to be stopped. How can adoption practice ever be improved if the government only blames ‘society’, refuses to listen to lived experience, and resists meaningful change?
Indebted for all the support we have received
The strength of the team is each individual team member, the strength of each member is the team.
Phil Jackson