Starmer issues historic apology for forced adoptions, calls practice ‘stain on our history’

Addressing the House of Commons, Starmer said the British state had failed tens of thousands of women who, during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, were pressured into giving up

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has delivered a formal apology on behalf of the UK government for the historic practice of forced adoptions in England and Wales, describing it as “a stain on our history” and acknowledging the suffering endured by thousands of mothers, children, and families.

Addressing the House of Commons, Starmer said the British state had failed tens of thousands of women who, during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, were pressured into giving up their babies because they were unmarried. An estimated 185,000 children were separated from their mothers during that period.

The prime minister said many young and vulnerable women were coerced, intimidated, or misled into believing they had no alternative but to surrender their children. He stressed that responsibility lay with the institutions that exercised authority over their lives, including local authorities, religious organizations, and parts of the healthcare system, which acted without compassion, consent, or adequate safeguards.

Before making the statement in Parliament, Starmer met campaigners and survivors at Downing Street, many of whom had spent years seeking official recognition of the injustice. Among them was former Labour MP Ann Keen, who said she had no say in the adoption of her son after being sent to a mother-and-baby home in 1966 at the age of 17. She welcomed the apology as an important step toward ending the shame wrongly placed on mothers.

The apology follows years of advocacy by affected families and recommendations from parliamentary inquiries. A report published earlier this year concluded that government policies had created an environment in which unmarried mothers were routinely shamed and pressured into giving up their children for adoption. The inquiry also called for easier access to adoption records and stronger support for families attempting to reconnect after decades of separation.

While the report did not recommend financial compensation, it urged the government to study how other countries have addressed historical forced adoption practices.

The latest apology comes after similar acknowledgments by the governments of Wales and Scotland, while the Church of England also issued its own apology in June, expressing deep regret for its role in the practice. Survivors and campaigners have described the government’s statement as a significant milestone in recognizing one of the darkest chapters in Britain’s modern social history.