The Catholic Church supported forced adoptions into the 1980s, long after laws intended to ban the practice took effect, Julia Macklin has revealed.
Forced adoptions in the United Kingdom were widely believed to have ended following the passage of the Adoption Act 1976. However, Ms Macklin is understood to be the first mother to speak out publicly about being coerced into giving up her baby during the following decade.
An estimated 250,000 women were subjected to forced adoptions up until 1976. It remains unclear how many additional mothers and children suffered the same outcome in the years that followed.
Pressure from parents and parish priest
Ms Macklin, now a 60-year-old financial consultant living in Marple, Greater Manchester, became pregnant at the age of 15 in the summer of 1982.
She recounted how her Catholic parents and their local parish priest pressured her into placing her unborn child for adoption through a Catholic church charity.
Her late father was employed as a teacher at a Catholic school in Manchester. The parish priest warned him that his career prospects would be ruined and he would never receive a promotion if it became known that his teenage daughter was an unmarried mother.
Ms Macklin was compelled to sever all ties with the child's father, a local teenager she had met at a fairground when she was 14 and had been dating for nearly two years.
Mother and baby home visit
To persuade her to proceed with an adoption, Ms Macklin was taken on a visit to a Catholic-run mother and baby home in Manchester. During the visit, she observed numerous other young women being forced to put their babies up for adoption.
Despite the pressure, Ms Macklin did not enter the home and instead gave birth at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester in March 1983.
Her baby daughter, Siobhan, was taken away two weeks after birth to be adopted by a married Catholic couple.
"The Catholic priest came to my parents' house in 1982 and between him and my mum and dad they told me what was going to happen," Ms Macklin said.
"I didn't want to give up my baby for adoption because my baby brother was just two and a half at the time and I knew how painful that was going to be," she added.
Decades of separation and search
Ms Macklin explained that her parents were devout Catholics who were overwhelmed by shame and concern for her father's employment.
"But I had no choice," Ms Macklin said. "My mum and dad were devout Catholics but even though they were not shallow people, they were burdened by the shame and there was a fear my father had that it would affect his career."
Following the birth, Ms Macklin attempted repeatedly to track down her daughter. However, she was denied contact and stonewalled by the Catholic Children's Rescue Society in Salford.
Mother and daughter were finally reunited in 2001 when Siobhan turned 18, the age at which she was legally entitled to obtain information regarding her biological mother.
"I tried to find her but I was told no contact was allowed and I was stonewalled by the Catholic Children's Rescue Society," Ms Macklin said. "It was all totally wrong and the more I think about it, the more outraged I feel that they did this to us and got away with it. She belonged with me, and I will never, ever recover from the loss as long as I live."
Calls for official government apology
In July, outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer issued a formal apology to 250,000 women in the UK who were forced or coerced into having their babies adopted between 1949 and 1976 by the Catholic Church, the Church of England, social services and the NHS.
However, the official apology failed to encompass women like Ms Macklin who endured forced adoption after the 1976 legislation was enacted.
"It was a forced adoption made possible by the Catholic Church and I deserve an apology from the church and from the government because Keir Starmer's apology didn't really include women like me whose children were taken away in the 1980s," Ms Macklin said.
"I still live with the stigma that I gave my baby up when I know I didn't, she was taken," she added. "I haven't been able to tell my story until now because I didn't want to hurt my parents. But because they are no longer with us, I am able to speak out and draw attention to the fact it was still happening in the 1980s."
Ongoing struggle for adoption records
Siobhan, now 43 and working as a health and care manager in Manchester, supported her mother's decision to speak out.
"There is no way my mum would have given me up out of choice and I have come to understand that over the years and what she was up against," Siobhan said. "My adoptive parents are amazing but I have learned a lot about what my mum went through as well and I believe we are both owed an explanation as to why forced adoptions were still happening in the 1980s long after they are supposed to have ended."
Siobhan's adoption records are currently held by Salford City Council. Ms Macklin is seeking to obtain the records to prove she was coerced into surrendering her daughter and to remove the stigma surrounding the adoption.
The Catholic Children's Rescue Society in Salford transferred its operations in 2012 to Caritas Diocese of Salford, which subsequently closed its adoption support services in 2022.
Church response and documentary broadcast
In response to the claims, the Catholic Church highlighted its previous statement on historical adoptions.
"The Catholic Church's apology for historical practices of adoption was issued in 2016 and it apologised especially for the hurt caused by agencies acting in the name of the Catholic Church," the Church said. "The apology still stands and the Church and Catholic organisations that are providing post adoption support continue to reflect on how we respond in sensitive and meaningful ways to those mothers and children affected."
A spokesperson for Caritas Diocese of Salford said: "We are deeply sorry to hear about Julia's experience and recognise the lasting pain that historic adoption practices may have caused for many people and their families. Caritas Salford was not established at the time and we are not able to comment on individual circumstances or decisions made in relation to historic adoptions."
The story of Ms Macklin and her daughter is featured in the BBC documentary Stolen Babies, which airs on BBC Scotland on Tuesday, September 1, and across the UK on BBC Two on Wednesday, September 2, with availability on BBC iPlayer starting Monday, August 31.
