Christine Hayes (Letters, 22 June) is right to remind us all that the reason so many babies were adopted in the 1960s (and earlier, before birth control was available to women) was because society condemned single mothers, even though sex outside of marriage was nothing remotely new.
But I will not accept the implication that forced adoptions were shameful to everyone. I feel no shame to have been adopted as a baby in 1948. It allowed me to grow up without those societal prejudices, in a loving family who made no secret about my adoption. I am sure I am not alone in this experience.
Adoption remains the best outcome for many children today, even though you might say it continues to be forced, being against the wishes of the birth parents. And the state continues to carry responsibility for its lack of support. But let us not condemn this method of giving children from troubled starts a chance of a happy upbringing.
Anne Rogers
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
• The reason most single mothers gave up their babies for adoption in the 1960 and 70s was simply because they couldn’t see how they could support them. There were hardly any nurseries for children under three years old, so you couldn’t work without family help. Neither my social worker nor anyone connected with my mother-and-baby home so much as suggested that National Assistance, as it was then, could provide support for single parents after the end of the Maternity Allowance period (of six weeks after birth, by which time you were supposed to have relinquished your baby to a decent home).
I was lucky to run into someone who had worked in a National Assistance office before her own pregnancy, who enlightened me so that I could complete my education and keep my baby – now sitting opposite me and contemplating her 60th birthday, I’m delighted to say.
Cat Bracey
Bristol
• I wholeheartedly agree with Christine Hayes’ sentiments, but I would add to her list of those culpable the Anglican and Catholic churches, which created the moral climate that enabled parents of teenage mothers to give away their grandchildren rather than face the hypocrisy of their local church.
Graham Whitaker
Brighton
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