From Australia to Spain, Ireland to America, and as recent as
1987, young mothers say they were “coerced”, “manipulated”, and
“duped” into handing over their babies for adoption. These women
say sometimes their parents forged consent documents, but more
often they say these forced adoptions were coordinated by the
people their families trusted most…priests, nuns, social
workers, nurses or doctors. Last month, a Dan Rather Reports
producer and crew were in Canberra, Australia as Parliament
released the findings of an 18-month-long investigation
revealing illegal and unethical tactics used to convince young,
unmarried mothers to surrender their babies to adoptive homes
from the late 1940s to the 1980s. In some cases, mothers in
Australia were drugged and forced to sign papers relinquishing
custody. In others, women were told their children had died.
Single mothers also did not have access to the financial support
given to widows or abandoned wives, and many were told by
doctors, nurses, and social workers that