Sir Keir Starmer will make a formal apology on behalf of the British state for its role in historic forced adoptions in England and Wales.
It is estimated that 185,000 children were taken from their mothers in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, with thousands of women pressured to give up their children because they were unmarried.
The apology comes after years of campaigning by mothers, adoptees and their wider families. The campaigners will meet the Prime Minister in Downing Street ahead of his statement in the House of Commons on Thursday.
In March, a parliamentary inquiry recommended that the government immediately apologize for the state’s role in the practice.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) investigative report found that government decisions “shaped an environment in which unmarried mothers were often shamed and forced to give their children up for adoption”.
It called for better access to adoption records as well as more support for people seeking to contact or reunite with their families.
It stopped short of recommending financial redress for victims, but called on the government to “rigorously assess” how other countries, including Australia, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, had responded to historic forced adoptions.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed two weeks ago that a formal apology was being made by the UK Government.
“The Prime Minister will have more to say on this shameful period in our history that reflects the gravity of what happened,” he said at the time.
Apology will come after three years The devolved governments in Cardiff and Holyrood expressed regret for the victims of forced adoption in Wales and Scotland.
An apology is also expected in Northern Ireland, but not until a public inquiry is completed following a 2021 report on mother and baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses.
Previous BBC reporting of forced adoptions led to a parliamentary inquiry.
Gaynor Weatherly, whose mother was 16 when he was born in 1963, told the BBC in 2021 that although she had found happiness through her marriage and children, she felt “cheated out of a different life”.
Diana DeFries, who was 16 when she became pregnant, had her baby taken away from her shortly after giving birth.
Also speaking to the BBC in 2021, she said: “I screamed for her to be brought back, but then the nurse walked past me and placed my daughter on a table out of my reach.”
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