I was told I was unworthy to be a mother, then they stole my baby

ByNichola Rutherford

BBC Scotland News

Marion McMillan was 17, large and unmarried, erstwhile she made her archetypal travel to England from her location successful the south-west of Scotland.

It was 1966 and she was sent by her household to a maternity location tally by the Salvation Army much than 150 miles away, successful Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The young mum spent 9 months with her babe - a beauteous lad with "gorgeous wee achromatic hair" - earlier helium was taken from her.

She begged unit to fto her support him. "I said 'please assistance maine support my baby, don't fto them instrumentality my baby, please' and helium was gone," she told a caller BBC documentary, Stolen Babies.

Warning: This communicative contains racist connection and descriptions of intersexual maltreatment and violence

It tells the stories of immoderate of the 250,000 women who were forced to manus implicit their newborns for adoption betwixt 1949 and 1976.

They were powerless against the volition of the state, societal workers and spiritual organisations, and the strategy which supplied infants to adoptive families.

"Let's look it, we were moving people unmarried girls having babies that were being adopted by mediate people women," different victim, Ann Keen, told the programme.

For years galore of the women kept their ordeal - their shame - secret.

In July, outgoing premier curate Sir Keir Starmer issued a ceremonial apology to those mothers, telling them: "The shame is not yours... the shame is ours."

Marion grew up successful Stranraer successful the 1960s wherever she fell for an older antheral who had emigrated from Pakistan.

"I was successful emotion astatine the clip and it was truthful lovely, I ne'er gave it a 2nd thought," she said.

"We were lone unneurotic conscionable a fewer abbreviated times, and I'd ne'er told my household but astatine 17 I became large retired of wedlock."

She hoped they would wed but her fellow knew their narration would not beryllium accepted.

"Nobody volition privation you to spell with a achromatic man, Marion," helium told her.

In their past conversation, helium suggested emigrating to Hawaii wherever helium believed mixed-race marriages were much acceptable.

"I ne'er saw him ever again aft that," she said. "Didn't cognize what was up of me. The conveyor loop of 'unwed mother' took control, and that was erstwhile I mislaid control."

She gave commencement astatine Hopedene, a location for unmarried mothers wherever conditions were austere and attraction could beryllium brutal.

"Everything, from the infinitesimal you transverse their threshold, is that you're unworthy to beryllium a parent and we're taking your babe from you," Marion said.

"It's going for adoption. So you amended get utilized to that, girl, due to the fact that you've nary money, you've nary spot to live, you've not got anybody to enactment you."

While giving commencement she was slapped crossed the look by the matron for trying to get disconnected a bed.

"And I don't cognize what was worse, the daze of her doing that [or] being successful dense labour," she said. "And the adjacent happening my lad is born."

She wasn't allowed to clasp him until the pursuing day.

"I was perfectly terrified," Marion said. "Absolutely terrified that they're taking my baby. They cannae instrumentality my babe distant from me."

But Marion got to walk longer with her babe than immoderate of the different girls successful parent and babe homes crossed the UK.

"I was a Scotch miss with a half-caste, that's what the Salvation Army recognised maine to be," Marion said.

"And of people you were told that half-caste is precise seldom palmy successful adoption."

He was 9 months aged erstwhile helium was picked retired by his adoptive parents. Marion compared the hold to manus him implicit to decease row.

"[The matron] took him, and she was weeping with me, and she indispensable person had different subordinate of unit that took him then, and she was inactive holding me."

Her hopeless pleas to support the babe were ignored.

Unwelcome backmost location successful Stranraer, she ended up successful a women's hostel successful Glasgow.

"Suddenly I'm banished from wherever I was calved and brought up and I'm wholly connected my ain again," she told BBC Scotland News.

Marion was yet reunited with her lad successful 2004, but her acquisition arsenic a teen continues to formed a agelong shadow.

"It's been achy for him, achy for me, achy for his [adoptive] parents, achy for everybody.

"But it you instrumentality distant the symptom it's been a acquisition from God due to the fact that each the years I missed him."

Ann Keen was 17 and moving successful a toilet rotation mill successful Ewloe, Flintshire, erstwhile she was asked retired by a handsome salesman.

"That's erstwhile it happened. In today's presumption it was without consent. You didn't accidental that successful the 60s," she said.

Like Marion, she was sent distant truthful the occupation could beryllium "dealt with". She gave commencement astatine an NHS infirmary successful Swansea, wherever she was denied symptom relief.

"I was told I wouldn't person thing for symptom due to the fact that I would retrieve it, and I wouldn't beryllium a atrocious miss again," she said.

"They saw maine arsenic a pistillate that didn't person immoderate morality and truthful I wasn't worthy of immoderate help. And I don't believe, had I been joined that that would person happened."

Ann was told that she could walk 10 days with her babe but connected the eighth time she went to the nursery and helium wasn't there.

A "cruel" midwife told her: "He's waiting for his caller mummy. You'll ne'er spot him again."

She took her to a Victorian bathroom, enactment her successful the bath and grabbed her breast.

The midwife told Ann: "I'm getting escaped of this milk, you won't beryllium needing it."

"And that's erstwhile I knew I'd mislaid everything," Ann said.

Joan Chambers was a 14-year-old schoolgirl successful Sunderland erstwhile she realised she was pregnant.

A teacher had starting asking her to spell for walks successful the countryside.

"I wasn't alarmed by it, because, you know, helium was a teacher and teachers are expected to beryllium trustworthy. I trusted him, I truly did."

One time helium raped her. "All I retrieve is the pain," she said. "I didn't recognize what was happening."

Five weeks earlier giving birth, she had to springiness grounds against the antheral successful court.

Years aboriginal she discovered archives that showed that the justice had told the assemblage not to judge her testimony.

She told the documentary that the justice said: "He's got a bully vocation up of him, truthful don't fto her being large sway you."

She went on: "That hurt. It truly wounded erstwhile I work that years later. For a justice to accidental that."

The antheral was acquitted.

Joan spent the past fewer weeks of her pregancy astatine a parent and babe location - but she said she had "blanked out" the birth.

"It indispensable person been truthful painful. I wasn't fixed painkillers oregon thing similar that, " she added.

"The adjacent happening I retrieve is similar my legs were up successful stirrups, a greenish screen implicit my legs, waiting for the doc to travel and stitch me. I had been torn to shreds, perfectly torn to shreds."

Her babe was taken erstwhile helium was 3 weeks old, a week earlier Christmas.

"They took him from maine and past they told maine to spell backmost successful the nursery and instrumentality the bedding retired of his cot and get it acceptable for the adjacent baby," she said.

Joan was 66 erstwhile they were yet reunited.

"It was amazing, but it was truthful sad," she said. "He'd ne'er looked for maine due to the fact that helium had a blessed adoption."

In 2023, Nicola Sturgeon described Marion McMillan arsenic "one of the astir ardent campaigners" arsenic she formally apologised for the relation of the authorities successful the forced adoptions.

"It was ever cruel, unjust and profoundly wrong," Scotland's archetypal curate said.

In an updated apology , externalpublished connected Friday, The Salvation Army said it was "profoundly atrocious and profoundly ashamed" that susceptible young women did not get the assistance they needed successful their parent and babe homes.

"We cognize we indispensable beryllium held accountable for those we fto down and bespeak connected our relation successful a nine that worked against large unmarried women," its territorial leaders, commissioners Paul and Jenine Main, added.

Marion says inactive much tin beryllium done. She wants much enactment for the victims of forced adoption - mothers, children and adoptive parents.

And she would similar to spot a centre of excellence for adoption successful Scotland, wherever anyone progressive successful adoption tin person broad grooming and support.

Ann Keen was among a tiny radical of mothers invited to Downing Street up of Starmer's apology connected behalf of the UK government.

"The apology to maine means I'm nary longer presumed blameworthy of thing I didn't do, due to the fact that I didn't springiness him away. He was taken," she said.

"It volition beryllium to the satellite that it wasn't our fault. We weren't to blame. The authorities was to blame, the churches were to blame, and we volition beryllium free."

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize has been affected by intersexual maltreatment oregon violence, you tin find details of organisations that tin assistance astatine BBC Action Line.