How very very sad that people who write articles do not do their research first. I was one of the mothers in the great hall on Thursday and I can prove my child was removed illegally as I have papers from the Supreme Court of NSW to show that no form was signed to show that I agreed to the adoption. I was not put in a home by my parents, I had a good job and was at an age that I could have raised my baby. All I needed was to be told that there was help for the first few months and a pension to go with this.

For those who continue to condemn the girls and say the children were better off with adopters, then you must be either adopters or have adopted children somewhere in your extended families.

The Catholic Church was only one of the agencies, the biggest being the Child Welfare Dept so this blaming the churches for everything is quite wrong.

Unless you have made this journey and walked in the shoes of the mothers and adoptees you should not take it upon your uneducated self to comment.

Pointing out factual errors in the Apology, as well as the historical context, is not the same as justifying everything that was done.

Had church-sponsored adoption societies not been in existence back then, single mothers would still not have had the means to keep and raise their children. Instead of the babies of single mums being adopted in an orderly fashion, very many would have ended up on the streets with their mothers, or in institutions.

The Prime Minister could have taken responibility for the Federal Government sitting on its hands back in that era but chose not to. The single parents themselves (male as well as female) are also not without responibility

I woke up almost every day of my life wishing and hoping that day would be the one that I was told I was adopted and the two brutal thugs that beat and abused and tortured me were not my parents.

Alas it never came true so I had to tolerate the abuse without a skerrick of help from the priest, the police or the headmaster who played golf with my child molesting alcoholic bash artist father and my drugged out anorexic bash artist of a mother.

The older generation know only too well what the shortcomings were in those days, your letter is very well written and I remember all of what you have said.
One aspect that worries me is that the father of the child is treated as non existent where the adoption was concerned,apology for women but what about the young men, they also should receive an apology, men are always treated as though they do not belong which is terribly incorrect, we all wonder where our offspring are in this world and long to know of the children as much as the female.

You said "I dispute the assumption in the official apology that relinquishing mothers were regarded by the community as having rejected their adopted child." Two years ago I spoke with a nurse who worked in the hospital in which my child was taken from me on the delivery table (despite my protests - and by the way they refused to tell me if I had a boy or girl)and her words to me were "We felt sorry for the babies because they were not wanted." Read the Senate enquiry report before you make blanket statements about adoption like this. It was illegal to deny me my child when I constantly asked for her. Also illegal to apply coercion and duress to get my signature by saying things like "what can you give the baby", how can you look after a baby, the baby deserves two parents, If you love the baby you will adopt it, the baby deserves the best.....and on and on. Illegal to take "consent" when I was so distressed and crying that I could not comprehend what was being said. The adoption act was put in place to protect me from such coercion and duress but this ignored. The "consent" form stated that it was to be filled out in my handwriting - it was not - it was pre filled in. There are three different handwriting styles on the form and only my signature in my handwriting. Afterwards it was said of me "she did not love the baby because she gave it away." I was not forced into a home by my parents, I had a job and went back to it after I lost my baby. I never said that I wanted to adopt my baby. Get your facts right. I deserved an apology and recognition of the loss of my baby to forced adoption. I could tell you lots more of my horrendous experiences in hospital and the discrimination I suffered. I am not alone, thousands of women were denied their right.

Well written Mr O'Reilly. Certainly there were many many young women who would have WANTED to keep their babies but for the social and economic climate of those times - which some of us can comment on with credibility as we've lived through them.

Nowadays - as pointed out, very few babies come up for adoption since almost all unmarried mothers without partners expect the State to support them and their offspring. Society is expected to accept this as 'normal practice' and a valid lifestyle choice.

So where has this change brought us today? Do any people seriously believe OVERALL that the lives of children being reared by single mothers dependent on welfare - often at risk of neglect or abuse from Mum, or more likely her latest BF, living on the breadline are BETTER than the children of previous eras who were adopted?

If yes, I suggest you are a Social Worker who depends on the misery for a living or some sort of head-in-the-clouds idealist without a clue. Immature and underage girls give birth to dear little babies - oh it's such a wonderful thing and all that - until reality hits. And it hits even harder when sweet little baby turns into a terrible toddler ... and so on. If "Mum" isn't living with her parent/s getting a lot of help and guidance it's a very hard row and it's the child that often suffers. We are seeing the effects more now as these children become adults and perpetuate the cycle.

Continued ...