When Julie found out she was pregnant at 18 she was so afraid of the consequences she left WA, went East, and ended up hitch hiking from Sydney to Queensland to have her illegitimate child.A powerful government act . . . .
Julie, who did not want her surname published because her own mother still fears the stigma attached to unwed mothers, was one of thousands of women forced to give up their children through aggressive adoption practices in public hospitals between the 1940s and early 1980s.
When the West Australian government tomorrow becomes the first in the nation to apologise to generations of single mothers who were stopped from seeing, touching or naming their babies immediately after they were born, Julie will be in State Parliament.
Talking about adoption, birthparents, abandonment, race, and China with my kids. That's not all we talk about -- but reading this blog, you'll think it's all we do!!!!!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Western Australia Government Apologizes . . .
From Western Australia Today:
Yes and the first in the world.It is a great day for mothers and adoptees.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing this to your audience.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the USA will ever apologise to the mothers from the baby scoop era. Canada has yet to apologise and I'm not holding my breath as they still have not apologised for their actions in regards to the Home Children brought over from England - much like the US Orphan Trains.
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2010/10/lms_20101018_0919.mp3
Radio interview above worth listening about the apology.
We have to keep talking about the abuses to ensure they never happen again.