Australia formally apologizes for forced adoptions

Australia on Thursday, March 21, apologized for the brutal and often illegal forced adoption of tens of thousands of babies born mostly to unmarried mothers between the 1950s and 1970s. The adoptions, driven largely by religious groups in the post-war period, “created a lifelong legacy of pain and suffering,” the national apology delivered by Prime Minister Julia Gillard said. “To you, the mothers who were betrayed by a system that gave you no choice and subjected you to manipulation, mistreatment and malpractice, we apologize,” she said to applause from 800 people affected by the policy.

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