By Rebecca Lloyd

Figure 1.
BAD GIRLS Secrets, Shame and Scandal in Australias Past Adoption Practices

A study on the treatment of unmarried women and the practice of forced adoption in Australia
during the 1940s-1980s.

I learnt a very big life lesson. I learnt tha t I'm unworthy. I am unfit, and so I have
never married, and I have never given birth to another child. Rob in Turn er. i

From the late 1940s to the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of babies were taken and put up for adoption
without their mothers consent.ii Individual womens experiences tell of a greater history of coercion, bullying,
neglect, physical restraint and drugging as methods employed by almoners (social workers) matrons, doctors,
nurses and in some cases relatives, to separate unmarried mothers from their babies and have them adopted
by more deserving married couples.iiiLabelled as bad girlsiv - a brand that many were unable to cast off
decades later - these mothers were cast back in to a society that scorned them, and instructed to get on with
[their] lives and forget their babyv. As was proven in the 2012 parliamentary inquiry Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices, and numerous documentation since, a return to
a normal life after the loss of their baby was an impossible task.vi
Figure 2.

1
 An Unforgiving World
We were a large blot on their pleasant
society Shop keepers commented that we
were from the local 'baby factory. Ms. Angela
Brown.vii

The social stigma towards unmarried mothers and

illegitimate children during the 1950s-1980s was
harsh and unforgiving for both mother and
childviii.Pregnancies were to be kept a shameful
secret; once the baby was born it would be
adopted out and the mother would return home,
never to speak of it againix. The general thought
was that the woman could be redeemed x and
start afresh ... [to] become a useful member of
[society].xiThe sentiment shes young shell
marry and have more childrenxii was often shared,
thus disassociating the unmarried woman with the
child growing within her.
The opinions of the grandparents, matrons, social
workers, church and some government bodies
appeared to agree with the premise that a single
woman could not, and should not, raise her own
childxiii. The consensus was that these women
were unworthyxiv; outside of the sanctity of
marriage there was very little support or joy to be
had throughout their pregnancy. In his 1973
journal article, Doctor Ferry Grunseit went so far
as to state that in New South Wales most
unmarried mothers are poor, undernourished
and of low intelligence, if not actually
retarded.xvWhilst many mothers struggled
financially and suffered poor nutrition during their
pregnancies, these hardships were almost always
due to outside sources, such as their poor
treatment inside various institutions and poor
treatment by employersxvi. The assumption of low
intelligence and possible retardation is largely as
product of the attitude towards unmarried
mothers during this era; that of scorn, disgust, and
outright hostilityxvii. Grunseits words reflected the
views of many in the so-called adoption industry:
that the women in their care were not worthy, not
smart enough to raise their childrenxviii.
Expectant mothers were often sent away from
their family homes, sometimes interstate to
Figure 3: Arriving at the home.
hospitals and institutions to protect the reputation
of the family namexix.Some women remember
being shunned and shut in at home, forbidden to
venture outside the property or see guests so as to
conceal their pregnant state:
I remained at home when not at work for
the remainder of the five months [of
pregnancy]. Visitors would call in to see my
parents. Dinner parties were held at home. I
would be asked to hide in my mother's
wardrobe while visitors were entertained. I
was not to be seen. - Name withheldxx.
To these parents, the upholding of their carefully
maintained reputation was a higher priority than
the emotional and physical wellbeing of their
children and future grandchildren. While some
women remained at home for the duration of their
pregnancies, most appear to have been sent away
and instructed not to return with a little bundle in
[their] armsxxi.Any notion of keeping their child
seemed impossible; beset on all sides, cut off from
family and without access to alternative
information, the women who signed the consent
forms to have their children adopted under these
circumstances did so under extreme duressxxii.
Witness accounts state, however, that even those
who had explicitly stated that they would not put
their child up for adoption, or who had yet to
decide, had the choice taken out of their hands the
moment they entered a maternity home or
institutionxxiii.

2
 BFA: Baby for Adoption
It had been calc ulated my precious
baby, that I carri ed th ere in my womb,
was for the joy of othe r s. Ms. Jud ith
Hendrikson. xxiv

In post-war Australia, adoption was becoming

more and more popular and accepted means of
raising a family, albeit one that often stayed a
family secretxxv, and there was an increasing
demand for babies from married couples unable to
have their own childrenxxvi. To many, the adoption
of unmarried babies to these wanting couples was
a solution to two societal problems; infertile
couples could adopt a baby and raise it as their
own, and unmarried mothers could leave behind
the shame of an illegitimate child and get on with
their livesxxviiAs adoption became more accepted,
so too did the demand for babies, and
consequently hospitals, agencies and unmarried
mothers homes were turned into something of a
production line of swift, secretive adoptionsxxviii. Figure 4: "Last day together, 1945."
Articles from newspapers of the times tell of the
demand for babies, girls especially, outweighing
the number of babies available for adoptionxxix.

Many mothers have now testified that their babies

were marked for adoption long before any
attempt to gain their consent often at the time
of their admission to the home or hospital they
were staying at. The letters BFA (Baby for
Adoption), UB (Unmarried Baby for adoption),
or UB- (Unmarried Baby Negative) were stamped
on medical records, unbeknown to the expectant
mothers, and would have a drastic effect on the
womens pre-and post-natal treatmentxxx.Those
three letters signified to the treating doctors and
nurses that she was not an expectant mother, but
something less than humanxxxi; she would be
scorned, neglected, ignored and abused with little
chance of recompense, and ultimately her baby
would be taken away.

Figure 5: Articles from the Brisbane

Telegraph, 1951 and the Sunday Mail,
1954.

3
 A House of Horrors
I'd pray to God every night for him to send
[someone] to get me out of there and show
me a way to keep my baby, but no one did. I'd
think of running away, but where would I
run to, who would I run to. It was clear to me
that no one in my family was going to help
me. Name withheld.xxxii

Many unmarried mothers during this era spent Figure 6: 'B.F.A stamped on a womans medical records.
time in an institution, such as a maternity or Primigravida signifies that this was her first pregnancy.
unmarried mothers home. Many of these
institutions were church-run charitable
organisations whose treatment of vulnerable
young women was abhorrent. Made to do physical
labour right up until their due dates for little -if
any- pay, subjected to constant belittling and
isolation from friends and families, these
institutions were a form of punishment for the
sin committed in becoming pregnant outside of
marriagexxxiii. One woman recalls a matron of a
Salvation Army run institution, where she was to
clean the kitchen floor:
What is she doing with a mop? I want to see
her on her hands and knees before our
precious lord!' Thats better; down on her
hands and knees where she belongs.'xxxiv

Bags were searched for contraband such as

confectionary, which was confiscated along with Figure 7: Crown Street Woman's Hospital, Sydney,
NSW, c.1930-c.1950.
personal belongingsxxxv. In addition to verbal and
physical abuse suffered in these institutions, the
pressure to give up their children for adoption was
constantxxxvi. At no point were women encouraged
to keep their children; even when in 1973 the
Supporting Mothers Benefit was extended to
single mothers, few women were given
information about the benefit, nor of any other
financial aid available to them. Adoption was the
only optionxxxvii.

Figure 8: Carramar Hostel, Turramurra, NSW, c.1984.

4
 Treatment Tantamount to
Torture

This is your punishment for what you

have done! You have to endure this so that
the doctors can practice and be experienced
for a real life situation!' Ms. Judith Bukin.xxxviii

Treatment was often no better in a hospital.

Unnecessary medical tests and examinations were
just two of the many injustices suffered by
unmarried womenxxxix. There is also evidence of
sexual assault, negligence and cruelty on the part Figure 9: Silvio Apponi, Memorial for Forced Adoptions, SA.
of nurses and doctors; women left to labour alone
for hours, given clumsy episiotomies with no pain
medicationxland surgeries that left so much
scarring that prevented them from having sex, or Apology
children, ever againxli.

When giving birth, pillows or sheets were held up
to the labouring mothers faces, or their heads
were turned to the side so that they could not see
their babyxlii. Some were held down by leather
strapsxliii.
"Imagine that 40 years ago someone stole
your baby out of her pram and then came
back decades later and said I'm sorry.
Would that make it okay?" Lina Eve, about the
National Apology for Forced Adoption. xlix

Physical restraints could be paired with drugs that

left the women without even the memory of giving
birthxliv, and immediately following the birth
measures were put in place to stop them lactating,
either through drugs such as stilboestrol or
through breast bindingxlv. Most women were not
allowed to see their babies after birth, being
turned away from the nursery and physically
restrainedxlvi; some did not even know if they had
had a boy or a girlxlvii. Of those who had been
allowed to briefly see their child, it was often
under the condition of them signing a consent
form for adoption beforehand; in return, a brief
look through the nursery glassxlviii.
In 2013, prime Minister Julia Gillard gave a
national apology to the men, women and children
affected by forced adoptions within Australia. The
apology was for many a long-awaited recognition
to their suffering, and a start to healingl. For
others, it was too little, too late, and there are
even now pushes for more inquiries and groups
pushing for class actions against the institutions
involvedli. Decades after the events that took their
children from them, these women still carry the
burden of the lives stolen from them, and the guilt
of having lived full of secrecy and shamelii. It is only
in recent years that they have been able to begin
changing this perception of themselves. No longer
bad girls, they are instead survivors, and are no
longer silent.

Figure 10: Nurses in a hospital nursery, c.1970.

5
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6
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[online database], accessed 22/10/2017; Cant Satisfy Adoption Call, Sunday Mail, 22 August 1954, p.3, in Trove [online
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7
Notes:
i
Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012) <
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/given-or-taken/3860552>,
accessed 20/09/2017.
ii Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices
(Parliament House, Canberra: Senate Printing Unit, 2012).
iii Ibid. 59
iv
Meg Hale, Mothers in ARMS: Forced Adoption Mothers Find
a Voice (Kent Town, SA: Wakefield Press, 2014), p.xi
v Ibid, pp.1-5.
vi Meg Hale, Mothers in ARMS: Forced Adoption Mothers Find
a Voice (Kent Town, SA: Wakefield Press, 2014), 17.
vii
Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices,
40-41.
viii Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012).
ix Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices.
x Unwed Girl Mother, The Biz, 18 December 1957, p.32, in
Trove [online database], accessed 21/10/2017.
xi Ibid.
xii Judge Gives Joan Murrays Child to the Maces, The Canberra
Times, 22 Sep 1953, p.1, in Trove [online database], accessed
17/10/2017.
xiii Should Unwed Mother Give Up Her Child?, The Sydney
Morning Herald, 15 July 1953, p.9, in Trove [online database],
accessed 16/10/2017; Ferry Grunseit, 'The adoption of infants
and the role of an adoption advisory clinic in New South Wales',
The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 1 (1973) 854.
xiv Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012).
xv Ferry Grunseit, 'The adoption of infants and the role of an
adoption advisory clinic in New South Wales', The Medical
Journal of Australia, 854.
xvi
Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices;
40-42.
xvii Ibid. 50.
xviii
Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012).
xix Ibid.
xxCommunity Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices,
41-42.
xxi Anniebee, Annie Mother, ABC Open [blog], (25 March
2013) < https://open.abc.net.au/explore/46068>, accessed
21/20/2017.
xxii Ferry Grunseit, 'The adoption of infants and the role of an
adoption advisory clinic in New South Wales', The Medical
Journal of Australia, 854; Given or Taken? [video], (Four
Corners, 27 February 2012).
xxiii Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices
xxivIbid, 54; Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations,
Australian Rationalist, 50.
xxv Denise Cuthbert, Shurlee Swain and Marian Quartly,
TheMarket in Babies: Stories of Australian Adoption (Clayton,
VIC: Monash University Publishing, 2013), 1.
xxviIbid.
xxvii Ibid.
xxviii Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012).
xxix Big Demand for Adoption', Brisbane Telegraph, 19
September 1952, p.2, in Trove [online database], accessed
22/10/2017; Cant Satisfy Adoption Call, Sunday Mail, 22
August 1954, p.3, in Trove [online database], accessed
22/10/2017.
xxx Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices,
45-46.
xxxi Ibid. 46.
xxxii Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices,
.36.
xxxiii Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, No.88 (2011), 50.
xxxiv Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices,
34.
xxxv
Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, 50.
xxxvi Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices.
xxxvii Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices;
Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, 50.
xxxviii Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices.
38; NAA: A3390, 20.
xxxix Ibid. 45-46.
xl Howarth, Kate, Settling Day: A Memoir (ST Lucia, QLD:
University of Queensland Press, 2015), 151; Wesley Rush, The
Other Stolen Generations, Australian Rationalist, No.88 (2011),
49.
xli Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices;
Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, No.88 (2011), 49.
xlii
Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012);
Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices;
Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, No.88 (2011).
xliii Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012).
xliv Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, No.88 (2011) 51.
xlv Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices;
Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, No.88 (2011) 50.
xlvi Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices
xlvii Given or Taken? [video], (Four Corners, 27 February 2012).
xlviii Ibid.
xlix Catherine Marciniak, Forced Adoption relative strangers,
ABC Open [blog], (20 March 2013) <
https://open.abc.net.au/explore/45809>, accessed
10/10/2017.
l Ibid.
li Waterford, Jack, Compensation for victims is coming - it will
be far bigger than the moral bill, The Sydney Morning Herald
[webpage], (2 October 2015) <
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/compensation-for-victims-
is-coming--it-will-be-far-bigger-than-the-moral-bill-20150930-
gjxsjo.html>, accessed 20/10/2017.
lii
Community Affairs References Committee, Commonwealth
Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices;
Wesley Rush, The Other Stolen Generations, Australian
Rationalist, No.88 (2011), 50-51.