Keir Starmer to Apologize for UK's Historical Forced Adoption Practices

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to deliver a formal apology in Parliament on Thursday to victims of Britain's historical forced adoption practices, acknowledging the state's role in a system that saw an estimated 185,000 babies taken from unmarried mothers in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976, BBC reported. The apology will follow decades of campaigning by mothers, adoptees and their families, and comes after a cross-party parliamentary inquiry concluded earlier this year that successive government policies helped create an environment in which unmarried women were routinely shamed and coerced into giving up their children. Before making his statement in the House of Commons, Starmer is expected to meet campaigners at Downing Street.

'We have always been accused of giving up our babies'

According to the BBC, campaigner and Labour MP Ann Keen, whose son was adopted in 1966 without her consent, said the apology was deeply significant. "We all need this apology because we have always been accused of giving up our babies, and we didn't give them up," Keen told the BBC. Campaigners have long argued that many women had little or no choice, with social stigma, institutional pressure and official policies forcing them to surrender their babies because they were unmarried.

Inquiry found state helped create coercive system

A report published in March by the House of Commons Education Committee concluded that government decisions had "shaped the environment in which unmarried mothers were often shamed and coerced into having their children put up for adoption." The committee requested the government to issue an immediate formal apology and also recommended improved access to adoption records and greater support for mothers and adoptees trying to trace or reunite with their families. The call for an apology echoed recommendations made in 2022 by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which said the government bore ultimate responsibility for the suffering caused by public institutions and state employees that "railroaded mothers into unwanted adoptions."

Long campaign for recognition

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson had confirmed last month that the government would apologise for what she described as a "shameful period in our history." The move marks a reversal from the previous Conservative government, which in 2023 expressed regret for how unmarried mothers had been treated but argued that a formal state apology was not appropriate because it did not believe the state had actively supported the practice. The Westminster apology follows similar apologies issued by the devolved governments in Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is expected to consider a formal apology after the completion of a public inquiry into mother-and-baby institutions.

Church also acknowledged 'pain, trauma and stigma'

Sarah Mullally also apologised to those affected, saying the impact on families had been lifelong for many survivors. She acknowledged the "pain, trauma and stigma" suffered by mothers and children and said there was deep shame that such practices had taken place within Christian communities.

Campaigners remember those who never lived to hear the apology

For many campaigners, Thursday's apology will be bittersweet. It comes almost exactly two years after the death of Veronica Smith, who co-founded the Movement for an Adoption Apology (MAA) in 2010 after her daughter was taken from her in the 1960s. Current MAA chair Diana Defries, whose own daughter was forcibly adopted when she was 17, said many women who fought for decades for official recognition were no longer alive or well enough to witness the moment. "It is hugely poignant," Defries said, adding that while the government's acknowledgement of the injustice was welcome, it was heartbreaking that several campaigners who had devoted years to the cause would not be present to hear the apology.