I very much doubt that the Government would issue an apology to adopted children and their birth mothers who were forced apart at unmarried mother's 'homes' , if there wasn't plenty of evidence to prove it happened.

Why would they bother?
(Except ,of course, if all the feminists in Canberra orchestrated it all!)

Lexi, there is no use pointing out any actual facts about forced adoption practices to a bunch of people who disagree with anything that may even vaguely be seen as women's rights.

Banjo, while some of these kids did have a good life with loving parents do you understand what your first post here did?
Mate it in saying there are two sides took one, strongly.
You leaped over a mountain of pain, and wrong, seem unable to see those drugged mums , or the horror of those stolen Baby's.
Ever thought of going in to politics?
Labor right seems an opertunity!

Suseonline,

Say what?! This has nothing to do with feminism.

As a matter of fact over all of the decades of feminism, the feminists did not bother with this up at all, in spite of it being mentioned in the media many times over the years (sim. to State Wards).

That is the problem. People prefer not to think about it, to turn off to difficult issues that do not affect them personally.

Suseonline,

"Why would they bother?". (to apologise).

Why wouldn't they. Absolutely no downside for the pollies. Here you got a bunch of clearly traumatic people who want to blame others for their rejects. The 'others' aren't named and aren't fighting back. So you can apologise on behalf of unnamed and unidentified perpetrators, get the warm inner glow, get the kudos from the self-identified victims, share their tears etc etc. What pollie wouldn't want that? So all sides sign up to try to show their compassion.

All winners, no losers. Win/Win for Gillard etc. Well one loser - the taxpayer - but they don't matter.

I'll believe these horror stories when I start seeing nurses, doctors, mid-wives from that era coming forth, admitting to ripping kids out of the loving arms of drugged girls at the behest of church and state. Until then, in my mind, its just regretful women wanting to absolve themselves of decisions they made in their youth.

Dear mhaze,

Your last statement reminds me of many episodes
in history that some people simply deny or fail to
understand - such as indigenous-settler relations
in this country.

However it is now possible to explore the past by
means of reports, articles, oral histories and so on.
Many voices are filling out the space once claimed as
the "Great Australian Silence."

But knowing brings burdens which can only be shirked by
those living in ignorance. With knowledge the question
is no longer what we know but what we are now to do,
and that's a much harder matter to deal with. The
national apology was a step in the right direction.
If you really want to get to the truth - go to your
national library and you'll be given as much information
as you need - to get the bigger picture.

Belly, Lexi, Suseonline,

Yes, push came to shove in cases and there was pain but behind it all was the decision taken by families, not a baby stealing authoritarian government.

If the federal government wants to apologise for anything, as representative of the majority of the population, it might be for failing to provide unwed mothers with the same welfare benefits to which widows or deserted wives were entitled.

I am in the (extreme?) minority of the population who think the federal government had it right on this back then. Since 1973 we have allowed women who choose it to be state funded mothers.

That Australian families already under strain must pay taxes to support these irresponsible breeders is one thing I strongly object to. However and moreover, I believe that societal ill has resulted from the generally poorer parenting and socio-economic situation the children are strongly affected by. They are raised in a culture of government succor in which many remain trapped. They are deprived of what a good adoptive home could provide but, yes, they have their mothers'love.

Yes we all know someone from this background for whom all the above is untrue and they had a poor but loving childhood and are now model citizens. However, I'd contend this most often not how it plays out and that adoption into a more financially secure, loving, nurturing home would be better.

Call me old-fashioned, call me an extremist, call me what you like. More people must live by their decisions and expect a hand-up rather than a hand-out from the rest of us. This should be the culture all of our children are raised into.

Adoption, where it now occurs, should be run in an open way so that children should have access to contact with their biological parents. This I do believe was a failing of the past.