UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has issued a formal and emotional apology to women who were forced to give up their babies and to children separated from their mothers under a state-enabled system of forced adoptions that operated across England and Wales in the decades following World War Two.

Speaking in the House of Commons , Starmer acknowledged on behalf of the British state the profound and lasting harm caused by policies that led to an estimated 185,000 children being separated from their mothers between the late 1940s and 1970s.

“On behalf of the whole country, I say it to every single person impacted: we are deeply and profoundly sorry.”
Keir Starmer

Before delivering the apology, the Prime Minister met affected mothers and adoptees at Downing Street, many of whom have spent decades seeking recognition of the trauma they endured. “There never was any shame for you. The shame actually is ours. The shame is on the state and all those that were responsible for this,” he addressed them earlier in the day.

The apology follows years of campaigning by survivors and a landmark parliamentary inquiry which concluded that the British state was ultimately responsible for a system that failed to protect unmarried mothers and their children.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights found in its report that government decisions helped create an environment in which women were routinely shamed, pressured and often left with little real choice but to surrender their babies for adoption.

The system, which operated broadly between 1949 and 1976, involved a network of local authorities, health services, charities and religious organisations.

According to official findings and survivor testimony, unmarried mothers were frequently placed in institutional care, including so-called mother and baby homes, where they experienced intense social pressure, isolation and in many cases coercion to relinquish parental rights.

Starmer added that the practices were not isolated failures but were embedded across multiple institutions.

“These were not isolated or accidental acts, they were practices embedded within systems across local authorities, across voluntary and faith-based institutions, and in health and social care services, including parts of what is now the NHS.”
Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister further stated that “mothers, many young, vulnerable, and without support were coerced, bullied, or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them. What a thing to do.”

Starmer also reflected on testimony from survivors, including accounts of medical procedures carried out without consent or adequate pain relief.

“I have to confess, as I said to them this morning, I found it hard to read the testimonies and to hear their stories,” he said. “I find it particularly hard, as a dad.”

The apology comes four years after a parliamentary inquiry concluded that the state bore ultimate responsibility for the failure to protect unmarried mothers and their children.

It also follows similar formal apologies issued by Ireland and Australia for comparable practices, as well as a recent apology from the Church of England, which acknowledged its role in operating mother and baby homes and supporting systems that contributed to forced adoption practices.

In his parliamentary address, Starmer stated the impact of these policies extended far beyond individual cases, affecting entire families across generations.

“To the sons and daughters, the children who are now adults, who, through pressure and coercion within these systems, were taken from their families, denied their identity, their history, and sometimes their safety. To those who grew up believing that they were unwanted.”
Keir Starmer

He added that while the apology could not undo decades of pain, it represented an important acknowledgment of wrongdoing at the highest level of the British state.

Survivors Demand Records Access and Long-Term Support

The apology has been widely described as a historic moment in the long campaign for recognition led by mothers, adoptees and advocacy groups who have spent decades calling for accountability and access to adoption records.

Many survivors argue that beyond symbolic acknowledgement, the government must now focus on practical reforms to address the enduring impact of forced adoptions.

Central among these demands is improved access to historical adoption files, which campaigners say remain difficult for many families to obtain. For those still searching for biological relatives, fragmented or restricted records continue to present significant barriers to reunification.

There are also renewed calls for expanded counselling and mental health services for survivors, many of whom report lifelong emotional distress linked to separation trauma, identity loss and unresolved grief.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights had previously recommended that the government strengthen support systems for those affected and examine international approaches to restorative justice. While it did not call for financial compensation, it urged ministers to assess how countries such as Australia, Ireland and Northern Ireland have responded to similar historical injustices.

The issue has also prompted wider reflection within religious institutions. In recent months, the Church of England publicly acknowledged its involvement in the system, expressing remorse for its role in operating institutions that housed unmarried pregnant women and contributed to forced separations.

The Church’s apology added momentum to broader calls for recognition across all institutions involved in the historical system, including charities and local authorities.

For the survivors, the Prime Minister’s words marked a significant moment of recognition after decades of campaigning.