Forced adoption is the act of taking a mother’s and/or father’s child against his/her will and placing them for adoption. In the past, some countries practiced forced adoption on unwed mothers. And now, families in the UK are being greatly affected by it.
England is one of only two countries who still allow forced adoptions. The other is Croatia. In the forced adoption system, there is no time period to try to earn the right to keep the children; there is no proof that there has been abuse or neglect. If it seems that a child might at some point be in danger, he or she can be removed from the home and immediately placed for adoption.
Families who are in fear of their children being taken and quickly adopted out are fleeing across the water to Ireland. Juliette Bremner of ITV News spoke with a handful of parents, one of whom recently lost her two daughters because her partner was charged with a crime and put in jail. According to the government, this meant that the children could be in danger of abuse. No matter that there is no evidence that the mother has never abused her daughters in any way. They came, forcefully took the children, and the adoption of those children will soon be finalized. The government rejected the plea to have the children be fostered by the grandparents.
There is great concern, not only with parents, but also with social workers over the growing number of forced adoptions. Just last year, nearly half of the over 5,000 adoptions that took place in England were forced adoptions. The British Association of Social Workers is working hard to get laws changed so that the preservation of birth families can be prioritized.
More information on forced adoption, as well as help for those who may be found in a circumstance like the woman mentioned above, can be found on Ian Joseph’s website. He states, “Remember always that ‘adoption’ is a wonderful, wonderful thing if it is truly voluntary but it is a wicked, wicked crime if forced on parents desperate to keep their children.”
