July 02, 2026
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday apologised to women forced to give up their babies and to those separated from their mothers at birth by a system of forced adoptions that targeted unmarried women in the decades after World War Two.
An estimated 185,000 children were separated from their mothers in Britain. Starmer apologised on behalf of the state for the lifelong trauma it had caused.
"On behalf of the whole country, I say it to every single person impacted: we are deeply and profoundly sorry," Starmer told parliament.
Between 1949 and 1976, the British state and Christian churches created a system in which young women with children outside of marriage were shamed and coerced into giving up their babies to comply with the social norms of the time.
