Historic forced adoption - scoping study: research findings

Introduction

Historic forced adoption refers to practices in the 1950s-1970s “which resulted in newborn babies being unnecessarily taken away from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption, without regard for the mothers' and children's needs or wishes”^[1].

In January 2023, as part of a range of work on this theme, the Scottish Government commissioned The Lines Between (TLB) to conduct a scoping study to explore support services for people affected by historic forced adoption. The study aimed to:

• Identify existing support services in Scotland.
• Understand the guidelines and training materials for GPs and mental health professionals supporting people affected by historic forced adoption practices.
• Engage with people who have lived experience of historic forced adoption in Scotland and gather their views on what new or additional support services are needed.

This summary outlines the study findings, which are based on fieldwork with people affected by historic forced adoption (including mothers, adoptees and other family members) and stakeholders such as local authority representatives (the majority of whom were social work practitioners), post-adoption support services, academics and campaigners. A review of key literature was undertaken in the foundation stages of the research.

It is important to note that adoption policy and practice has changed since the 1950s-1970s, with more support and safeguards now in place for adoptees, parents whose children have been adopted, and adoptive parents.

This summary focuses on the findings about the support needs of people affected by historic forced adoption, specifically search and reunion, accessing records and the emotional and psychological impact of historic forced adoption. The full report covers wider findings about the lived experience of historic forced adoption.