UK apologises for forced adoption scandal as Starmer calls it ‘a stain on our history’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologised to women forced to give up their babies or separated from their mothers at birth under a system of forced adoptions that targeted unmarried women for decades after World War Two.

An estimated 185,000 children were separated from their mothers in Britain. Starmer apologised on behalf of the state for the lifelong trauma it had caused.

“On behalf of the whole country, I say it to every single person impacted: we are deeply and profoundly sorry,” Starmer told parliament on Thursday, describing what happened to the victims as a “stain on our history”.

“The state did not do enough to protect mothers, children, and families from harm, and for this systemic failure I am truly sorry.”

Between 1949 and 1976, the British state and Christian churches created a system in which young women with children outside marriage were shamed and coerced into giving up their babies to comply with the social norms of the time.

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Lack of protection for mothers, babies