Another question for birthmothers

It was extremely common for the actual labor and delivery to occur in the maternity homes. For example, many of the Salvation Army Booth Memorial Homes had on-site delivery rooms and infirmaries. So your information probably is correct. Many, many maternity homes actually required the new mothers to take care of their infants...some for up to three months. There is an excellent book you might want to pick up at your local library. It's called The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler, who does an amazing job describing the maternity homes within their historical context. As far as divorce being common in the late 1960's, yes, it was very common to be divorced in those years. My parents got divorced in 1960, and my grandparents got divorced in the early 1950's. It was still frowned upon back then, but it was happening on a regular basis.

thanks for your insight- I will check into the book- I had another person suggest that book too. I'm trying to get a picture of (what and how and all that) what my bm went thru- hoping somewhere someone is looking for me. I'm not sure if the name on my release paper- that my aparents signed when they took me home, is my name from birth or an assigned "code name". Does that make sense? There's just so many questions! Thanks again!

MontanaDream, I think you'll get a lot out of reading the book I suggested. The author (an adoptee, by the way) based it on hundreds of interviews with birthmothers who had relinquished in the years leading up to Roe v. Wade. She does a fantastic job of explaining the sociological and historical elements in relinquishment. About the name listed on your release papers...it easily could have been a "code" name. That was very common back in those years, too, especially for babies born in the maternity homes. Keep us updated, and I hope you keep posting here. You'll meet some amazing people on the site, many of whom have gone through the same thing you are going through now. Good luck on your journey. :loveyou:

Raven, If what I have is a code name- is there any way to find out my birth name? Thats kinda weird to not even have a name to call your own... outside of the name my daddy gave me. Ya know? Looking up that book now- THANKS!

MontanaDream, You may want to post this question over on the Adoptee Support board. You may get more responses from people who have gone through this with their own birth records. I wasn't even aware of the "code names" being used until I joined up here on the forums. It boggles the mind that official government records, like birth certificates, could be falsified in such a manner. I wish I had an answer for you. Hopefully someone who knows about this stuff will answer you shortly. :loveyou: