Showing posts with label Adoption Reality: Scotland. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Adoption Reality: Forced Adoption Scotland

After 50 years of silence, victims of Scotland’s forced adoption scandal demand redress

By Marion Scott November 17, 2024

The Scottish Government must compensate the victims of the forced adoption scandal, now that it has accepted responsibility, a leading lawyer has said.

Experts say the injustice of taking babies from their mothers simply because they were not married compares with the harm caused by both the infected blood and in-care abuse scandals.

Solicitor Advocate Patrick McGuire, who heads negligence firm Thompsons Solicitors, told a round table inquiry in the Scottish parliament last week: “When Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delivered the forced adoption apology last year on behalf of the state, she accepted responsibility for what happened.

“Accepting that responsibility comes with the unanswerable requirement to create a redress scheme to help victims recover from the trauma and harm they suffered.”

Forced adoption scandal

Calling on victims to ditch the guilt cruelly imposed upon them for over 50 years, McGuire said: “The forced adoption scandal saw vulnerable women shamed into silence for decades, an unjust shame which remains a factor today over why so many still have not felt able to come forward to seek justice.”

McGuire, whose expert team has been investigating the injustice and human rights abuses inflicted upon Forced Adoption victims until the practice was halted in the late ’70s, said all those involved suffered lifelong harm.

Bullied, threatened with jail if they tried to find their children, and lied to over their legal rights, he warned the psychological damage inflicted upon 60,000 mothers, their children and families is still causing trauma today.

Forced adoption victims and experts meet MSPs in Holyrood.

On behalf of the Scottish Government, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delivered an unreserved apology in March 2023. She said: “Ultimately, it is the state which is morally responsible for setting standards and protecting people. As modern representatives of the state, I believe we – among others – have a special responsibility to the people affected. We have a responsibility to do whatever we can to support them, in dealing with the legacy of what happened.”

She added: “The issuing of a formal apology is an action governments reserve for the worst injustices in our history. Without doubt, the adoption practices which prevailed in this country for decades fit that description.”

McGuire said: “Forced adoption shares hallmarks with the infected blood scandal and the thousands of children in care who suffered appalling sexual and physical abuse decades ago in residential school and homes.

“Individuals were treated inhumanely decades ago, in circumstances that were ultimately the responsibility of government.

“The government recognised their responsibility in the formal apologies which followed, just as they did for forced adoption.

“Forced adoption victims have been shamed into silence for decades, and that unjust shame remains a factor today over why so many victims still have not felt able to come forward to seek justice.”

‘No excuse’

McGuire, who has championed victims harmed by exposure to deadly asbestos, mesh-injured patients and bereaved families in the hospital inquiry, told MSPs there is “no excuse” for the Scottish Government to delay delivering redress to forced adoption victims.

He said: “As they did in both the infected blood and in-care abuse scandals, Westminster and Holyrood decided, purely on the basis of a moral case, to create compensation schemes after recognising their responsibility for what happened. The Scottish Government already have the blueprint for redress schemes. They must proceed without delay.

“Without The Sunday Post exposing this dark, hidden episode in Scotland’s history, the victims of forced adoption would have continued suffering some of the worst examples of injustice I’ve ever encountered.

“It’s deeply upsetting so many mothers who had their babies taken from them have passed away without getting justice.

“That is why it is incumbent upon the government to do the right thing as a matter or urgency. The scandal becomes ever more shameful as time passes and more victims are denied justice for something which never should have happened.”

The campaign

Supported by MSPs Monica Lennon and Miles Briggs, campaign group Forced Adoption Scotland, who secured the apology, is calling on victims to put aside the shame unjustly forced upon them to come forward and seek redress.

Campaigner Marion McMillan, 74, said: “We’ve been silenced for over 50 years. Our legal and human rights were taken from us at the same time our babies were torn from our arms and given to married couples as we wept.

“Times have changed so radically; we recognise how difficult it must be for people today to fully understand what was done to us. We were terrified of authority, threatened with being thrown in jail if we tried to find our babies. We were told we were worthless, not fit to be mothers simply because we fell in love outside of marriage.

“Nobody at Forced Adoption Scotland made a lifestyle choice to give their baby up. If what was done to us was attempted today, those responsible would be behind bars. The Scottish Government did the right thing by delivering a formal apology. But since then, they’ve failed to engage with Forced Adoption Scotland and failed to keep the promises they made to our mothers, adoptees and families who have suffered unbearably.

“Because of those failures, we believe the only way forward now is for a redress scheme. We need funds to pay for the specialist support and counselling to repair the damage done to us.”

Forced Adoption Scotland adoptee Marjorie White, 73, said: “After recognising the harm done to us, the Scottish Government then tried to do things on the cheap by funding counselling services from inexperienced groups with no experience of dealing with the kind of the trauma we suffered.

“At the same time, experienced trusted organisations like Birthlink have not been given adequate government funding to provide the support and services we need, and they are best at delivering.

“When Nicola Sturgeon delivered the formal apology, we were full of hope that after decades of silence and pain, at last our suffering would end and the wrongs of the past would finally be recognised.

“She promised all victims would get the help and support we needed to recover from the harm we suffered, the trauma of having our identities taken from us and the years of searching and never getting answers because the adoption system prevented us.

“But after she stepped down as First Minister, those who were supposed to keep the promises she made failed us dismally. In fact, the blundering attempts they made to provide support which was entirely unsuitable have caused even further damage. That is unforgivable.

“Government ministers and officials have made little or no attempt to work alongside Forced Adoption Scotland despite our decades long fight for the formal apology and our success achieving it.

“Our group contains members from every side of the adoption scandal, but there has been no consultation with us. Adoptees in particular have been left out of discussions. We all matter. We all suffered lifelong harm and distress.

“I have spent much of my adult life receiving counselling for what was done to me, and I have trained as a counsellor so in effect I could try and heal myself. When I compare the quality of the services the government are offering, I have more experience than those being paid public money to supposedly help us. It’s unacceptable.”

The Scottish Government said: “Our deepest sympathies are with the mothers, adoptees and families who have endured immense pain and suffering as a result of these unjust practices.

“We recently held sessions with mothers and adoptees. We are taking forward actions based on these discussions, and we continue to fund the charity Health in Mind to offer specialist support to those affected by historic adoption.”

If you’re a victim, you can contact Forced Adoption Scotland on Facebook and Thompsons Solicitors Scotland on 0800 0891 331 or on WhatsApp. The Sunday Post’s chief reporter is Marion Scott – mascott@sundaypost.com

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Adoption: 2% to 25% of adoptions FAIL

I didn't want to post this: It always hurt to think about the innocent child who suffered this... Remember, HUMAN TRAFFICKING is what we are looking at here... Trace Hentz

Woman wins six-figure payout after adoption broke down

9-8-2024 | Suzanne Allan | BBC Scotland News

BBC Karen Maguire — Karen Maguire was paid an out-of-court settlement last year

A woman has been paid an out-of-court settlement from a council after her adoption of a two-year-old boy broke down.

Karen Maguire won the six-figure payout from South Lanarkshire Council last year after her lawyer argued it failed to provide her with enough background information on the child and did not support her during the placement.

Ms Maguire told BBC Scotland the child barely slept, hated being cuddled and self-harmed by banging his head. It later transpired he had a serious underlying medical condition which she was not told about.

South Lanarkshire Council said it aimed to provide full support to any prospective adoptive parents.

Ms Maguire said she was speaking out for the first time to raise awareness of the lack of support for adoptive families.

The adoption took place in 2013, and broke down after just four months, but Ms Maguire has been fighting for years to get the council to recognise its role in the failure.

'Eyes wide open'

Ms Maguire told the BBC she had applied to adopt a child as a lone parent and the approval process - which makes sure a prospective parent can provide a stable and loving home - took six months.

She said she went into the process with her "eyes wide open".

Ms Maguire knew that many children in local authority care had social and emotional difficulties and she told social workers she was fine with a child with mild additional support needs.

However, she said she would find it hard to cope on her own with a child with severe difficulties.

A two-year-old boy was identified as being suitable. The social worker who came to tell Ms Maguire the news stressed how lucky she was.

"At the time she said she didn't know a lot about him, but said that he was relatively uncomplicated,” she said.

"In fact she used the words ‘you've won a watch’."

'Something was wrong'

Later, Ms Maguire said she was told the child had a developmental delay.

She said she knew things were not going to be easy but felt she had good support from her wider family to help her cope.

Social workers told her the forms with more information on the boy had not been written yet and that they could only provide verbal information at that time.

But Ms Maguire said she “knew something was wrong” as soon as the child came to live with her.

“When he came to me, he was covered in bruises and his face was cut from self-harming,” she said.

"He came to me with a helmet that he was supposed to wear, such was the severity of the head-banging."

Getty Images Child and woman from behind, close up of arms, holding hands

Ms Maguire said daily life was a struggle. "He had rages," she said.

"For hours on end he was inconsolable. It was horrific to watch.

"He would be hanging from my hair or he would hit me about the head, the nose, the mouth."

Ms Maguire said her pleas for help were dismissed and she felt let down.

"I got absolutely no support whatsoever," she said.

"They kept insisting there was absolutely nothing wrong and that it was me, imagining it. I needed immediate help."

Family and friends helped her but eventually Ms Maguire told South Lanarkshire Council she was not coping.

She said social work help was provided but she needed specialist support - a child psychologist or paediatrician - as she suspected there was more to the child’s problems than developmental delay.

She said her health visitor and a therapist wrote to the council supporting her need for extra help.

"I felt social workers could not see there were serious problems despite being advised by other professionals who had seen him," she said.

“They didn't seem to believe me until the situation was completely out of hand."

Adoption disruption

Ms Maguire said it reached crisis point with an incident when the boy threw a heavy paperweight at her head.

“If that had hit me full on it would have been catastrophic as it would have knocked me out and left him alone in the house," she said.

"At that moment I thought, 'I can't keep this child safe'.”

Social workers visited that day and seeing her bruises suggested the placement should end.

"In that moment I agreed," Ms Maguire said.

"However, I didn't think it would happen."

She said "adoption disruption", as it is called, should be a long road and efforts should be made to stop it happening.

Although the boy was in Ms Maguire's care, legally the adoption hadn't yet been approved by the courts.

After further meetings and assessments Ms Maguire said she was asked to make the "life-changing" decision about whether to keep him.

"I believe there was a fine line between my desperate cry for help and them taking him," she said.

"I was under pressure and fighting an uphill battle."

The boy returned to local authority care four months after being placed with Ms Maguire.

She said she felt misled over the adoption.

Legal advice

It was only later that Ms Maguire found out about the boy's underlying medical condition.

"Everything I had thought from the very outset was correct, and yet I was made to feel that wasn't the case throughout it all,” she said.

Ms Maguire said "adoption disruption" is not often discussed and she feels a stigma about what happened.

"I am consumed by guilt because I tried so hard to keep him," she said.

"The stigma is that you've given your child back and people don't understand the situation."

Ms Maguire said she lost friends over the decision.

"People made judgements about me," she said.

"You would walk into rooms at work and people would stop talking.

"Somebody actually said I'd given him back like a pair of trousers at Marks & Spencers".

While dealing with the devastation of the adoption breaking down, and losing what she still describes as “her little boy”, Ms Maguire sought legal advice.

Lawyer Elizabeth Rose said it was an unusual case

Elizabeth Rose, from L&M Medilaw, acknowledged that in law a council does not generally owe an adoptive parent a duty of care.

However, she felt the lack of information provided to Karen prior to the boy being placed in her care, and lack of support during the placement, meant there was scope for the law to be tested.

"It was an unusual case,” she told BBC Scotland News.

"In this certain situation there were issues with the matching and assessment period prior to placement and I think it was time that the law challenged this.

"Essentially insufficient information was given to my client and as a result she wasn't able to make an informed decision, and even when the placement started there was insufficient support given."

South Lanarkshire Council paid Ms Maguire an undisclosed sum to settle the case, understood to be more than £100,000.

Dr Polly Cowan, from the charity Scottish Adoption, has looked at how often adoptions break down and the reasons why.

She analysed UK and international figures and estimates the rate to be between 2% and 25%, but said it is hard to get definite figures, because the way they are gathered in Scotland varies.

"There is a real need for support for families," Dr Cowan said.

"That is the real issue that needs to be talked about and thought about."

She would like to see more funded support from the Scottish government, national guidelines for adoption and better monitoring of the number of adoption breakdowns.

South Lanarkshire Council told BBC Scotland it always aims to provide adoptive parents with full support.

A spokeswoman said: "It would be inappropriate for us to comment on individual cases.

“Our policy for practice reflects national standards and regulatory requirements.

"Support is offered following adoption which we endeavour to tailor to the needs of the child."

The Scottish government said it was committed to ensuring adoptees and adoptive families could access the support they need.

A spokeswoman said: “This includes funding to Adoption UK to provide a national helpline and support for adoptive families to help minimise adoption breakdowns."

It has been almost a decade since Ms Maguire's adoption process came to an end but she said she still thinks about the child involved.

"I live every day with what happened. I miss him every day,” she said.

Need help? If you have been affected by this story the BBC Action Line web page features a list of organisations which are ready to provide support and advice.

Indigenous Adoptees

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