Thanet survivor attends historic plaque unveiling to victims of forced adoptions and makes campaign ‘booties’ appeal
- trushali Kotecha
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
The plaque at Rosemundy house and MAA committee members Jacqui Adam’s, Diana Defries and Karen Constantine
A Thanet mother and baby home survivor was among those to attend a significant and emotional ceremony on Saturday (May 10) – the first plaque commemorating the victims of historic forced adoptions was unveiled at former mother and baby home Rosemundy House in Cornwall.
The unveiling aimed to honour the women and their babies who were taken for forced adoption between 1949 and 1976. The Memorial Day was organised by long-time activist Dr. Phil Frampton, who himself was born at Rosemundy House and was also separated from his mother.
Rosemundy, now a hotel, agreed to host the plaque, which was unveiled by veteran campaigner Lin Rodden, 88, who had her baby taken from her at the home when she was just 19 years old. Lin and her son Mark are featured in Karen Constantine’s book, Taken: Experiences of Forced Adoption, the first collection of lived experiences in the UK.
Karen Constantine Photo by Carole Wheatley
Taken: Experiences of Forced Adoption’ shares the stories of the mothers and now-adult children whose lives have been fractured by the practice of sending unmarried mums-to-be, often just teenagers, to mother and baby homes in the UK during the 1950s-70s, where they were then coerced into handing their babies over to be adopted.
The book is also a call to action, a demand for a government apology and adequate support and compensation measures for the huge injustice done to many thousands of women and babies.
The estimate is that 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales during the period from 1949 to 1976, but in reality, it’s thought the figure is likely to be closer to 500,000 and, in fact, the last of the homes did not shut until the mid-80s.
Karen, a former county councillor, is part of the committee of the Movement for an Adoption Apology (MAA) which for the last decade has been campaigning for a formal apology from the government.
In July 2022, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) headed by Harriet Harman MP published a report which was the culmination of a 10 month inquiry into forced adoption practices.
Measures recommended included the need for an official apology and meaningful reparations including having medical records, collated from several sources, and transferred from analogue to digital format, so that they are accessible, searchable, and form a permanent history.
A national Memorial Day, or something similar, was also recommended.
In response UK government said it was “sorry on behalf of society for what happened”, but it was not “appropriate for a formal government apology to be given, since the state did not actively support these practices”.
An apology has been issued by Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh authorities, as well as those in Canada and Australia, and the Catholic Church– the UK government is still yet to do so.
Karen with Daniel
Karen, 62, was sent without choice to St. Paul’s mother and baby home in Coleshill, Birmingham, at the age of 15.
She said: “It was like being in a prison. I was cut off from all my family and friends, and my education was terminated. I went from studying for my O levels to doing all the washing and ironing in the on-site laundry.”
For Karen, the outcome was not adoption. Somehow, she managed to keep her son Daniel, aided by her Aunt Wyn who advocated for her but stigma and hard times continued.
Rosemundy survivor Lin said: “It was terrible being incarcerated in Rosemundy; we were treated appallingly. Nobody should be treated the way we were, and we had no choice about what happened to our babies. They were taken from us very brutally.
“It was many years before my son found me, and I had all but given up hope that we would ever be reunited, which was my dearest and lifelong wish. It was almost too much to unveil the plaque, but I am glad I did. I was heartened to see more than 150 people had travelled to Cornwall to celebrate this momentous occasion. Hopefully, this government will now take its head out of the sand and give us a formal apology, which is long overdue.”
Karen has recently reached out to Birmingham Archbishop Bernard Longley for support in placing a similar plaque at St. Paul’s but has yet to receive assistance.
In a call to action, Karen is inviting creatives, knitters, artists, and makers from Thanet to support the MAA’s mission to collect half a million booties—either knitted, painted, or crocheted. These will be displayed to illustrate the true scale of the injustices faced.
She said: “The government continually underplays the true scale of this social injustice, claiming that around 200,000 women were impacted. However, the true figure is much higher; government research stops in 1976. My research and that of others indicates this trade in babies continued well until 1985.
“We encourage people to knit small booties or donate small pairs of baby socks, and we would also love to see artists and ceramicists create or paint tiny booties.”
Dr Phil Frampton expressed his delight at the extensive coverage the plaque event received and also composed music to illustrate his experiences, which was performed during the ceremony.
Diana, Karen and Kathy from The Isle of Thanet News at the book launch
Diana Defries, Chairwoman of the Movement for an Adoption Apology (MAA), described the day as “a powerful and positive event attended by people from all over the country. We now need to see urgent action from our government. We would like to hear from anyone who would like to put up a plaque, and we’ll do our best to support them.”
For further information on how to support the ‘booties’ initiative or to get involved, please contact karen@karenconstantine.co.uk or 07084532212
To obtain a copy of Karen’s book or to organise a talk about the campaign please contact –https://linktr.ee/KarenConstantine
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