Forced Adoption Survey - Adoptee Watch and TakenUK

Introduction

Paul Tovey was adopted and abused and knows from experience that the system is failing children and parents. Many others know from experience that the system is failing children and parents.

Paul campaigns as Adoptee Watch on twitterx [1], and has been promoting a survey launched by TakenUK and co-designed with others too inside Court crisis. The survey is for those affected by forced adoption so that people can outline the experiences that they have had and the issues that have affected them.

Click on pic or link for the survey…

"Mothers and Others" Citizen Survey on:"UK Forced Adoptions 2002 - 2024" [3].

The survey will provide information to prioritise the areas needed to be looked at as well as areas for future campaigning.

Ongoing information about the survey is on this blog The Link For The Forced Adoption Survey 2002–24 And Ongoing Record [4].

Forced Adoption Survey

The survey on forced adoption should provide information and evidence and help give a voice to the individually silenced and disenfranchised parents.

Paul says “we want to counterbalance the de-democratisation of mothers and others voices who have had their kids taken by the UK State into Care Orders and worse still , Adoption Orders”.

Parents being silenced removes essential checks and balances necessary in any system. If there are no checks and balances and no voices that are allowed to speak up, then authority can run rampant over our lives, children and parents, with no accountability. Power with no accountability is a recipe for disaster.

Paul said “We need a culture of openess around forced adoptions and changes in law to enable parents to speak out. The overuse of secrecy in Family Courts for the sake of the child's confidentiality needs to stop.”

Hopefully the survey can help with getting the basic information to be identifiy the problems and able to press for the solution together.

Background to the Survey

The time period 2002 - 2024 was chosen as it is mainly since the 2002 Adoption Act that there has been all political party agreement to adopt children without parental consent (forced adoptions) in high numbers. It was also during this time that the Family Court was established.

Paul says “Many parents in the twin processes of either Care Orders or [Forced] Adoption Orders have been legally gagged from speaking out by the 1989 Children Act [9] and other laws that prevent transparency in the UK Family Courts.”

“Parents are whitewashed out by the system of UK laws and highly over-reactive practices of social workers claiming ‘child abuses’ or ‘at risk’ kids at rates that do not make sense when mothers and others are listened to more fully.”

There has been a dramatic increase in adoptions and an inability of parents or children to speak out about the faults and indequacies of the system. In the timeline below are summarised the main changes to adoption and some newsworthy articles in this time period. There may well be others I have missed out, please add them in comments.

Timeline

• 1976 Adoption Act [16]

• 1989 Children Act [9] [30] Most substantial reforms to children's law of the 20th century. It allocated duties to local authorities, courts, parents, and other agencies in the United Kingdom, to ensure children are safeguarded. It states that the court’s primary concern is the child’s welfare. In practise it is often the states interpretation of what is best for the child which is not the same thing.

• 2000 Tony Blair altered the architecture to promote adoption, including incentives for adoption [20]. Blair changed targets to raise the number of children being adopted by 50 per cent to 5,400 a year [18]. This was supposedly to encourage adoption of older children but in practise was used mainly to target babies and small children.

• 2002 Adoption and Children Act [14]. Described by the Guardian as "the most radical overhaul of adoption legislation for almost 30 years", [32]. Allowed unmarried or married people and same sex couples in England and Wales to adopt children.

  Allowed introduction of special guardianship, a legal status that allows for a child to be cared for by a person with rights similar to a traditional legal guardian, but without a requirement for absolute legal separation from the child's birth parents.

• 2005/6 Special guardianship provisions passed into law by statutory instrument in 2005 and came into force in 2006, under 2002 Act [14]

• 2007 July 2 Family Link Councils making millions in incentives after snatching record numbers of babies for adoption [20]

• 2008 Jan 31 Mail How social services are paid bonuses to snatch babies for adoption [18]

• 2009 Feb Independent Justice Ministry to bar parents from telling their own stories [17]

• 2010 Children, Schools and Families Act [25]

• Children in Children's Homes Can Speak Out Against Abuse [24]

• 2011 Action Plan for Adoption [22] Cameron, Gove etc felt adoption was slow and needed speeding up. Gove Education Secretary 2010-14

• 2012 Apr 12 Standard Councils making millions in incentives after snatching record numbers of babies for adoption [19] £36 million in 'reward grants' were promised to English councils in an attempt by Labour to increase adoptions of children by 50 per cent [19]. More than 900 newborn babies were being taken from their mothers each year, 300% increase in little more than a decade. The number of children aged between a week and a month removed from their parents rose by 141% to 1,300 annually. Two councils, Essex and Kent, were offered more than £2 million "bonuses" over three years to encourage additional adoptions. Four others, Norfolk, Gloucestershire, Cheshire and Hampshire, were promised an extra £1 million [19].

• 2013 Crime and Courts Act 2013 [26]

• 2013 Crime and Courts Act 2013 s17 [27] which established the Family Court which has appeared to be largely unaccountable and the cause of many forced adoptions

• 2014 Children and Families Act under Cons / Lib coalition which built on Blair's ethos of incentives. Using s52 of the 2002 Adoption Act created a much used bypassing of parental consent, [15].

• 2015 Nov 2 BBC David Cameron bids to speed up adoption process [23]

• 2016 Mar Adoption A vision for change [21] Outlined what Government proposed to accelerate the whole adoption process. Radically redesign the whole adoption system, delivering new service models through Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs).

• 2021 Joint Committee on Human Rights [6] started an inquiry into the “Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976”.

• 2022 JCHR Third Report of Session 2022–23 [11] and short summary here [11a]. 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted. They recommended an apology from Government. No apology. Chair of the JCHR said “It is disappointing that the Government has chosen not to issue a formal apology in recognition of the appalling treatment that unmarried mothers suffered during that time, and the lifelong consequences this had on them, on their children, now grown, and all those involved.”

• 2023 Mar 3 Government responds to JCHR call for adoption apology [28]

• 2023 Mar 22 BBC Sturgeon issues apology over forced adoption [29]

The Family Court was established in the 2013 Crime and Courts Act 2013 s17 [27]…

This link may be useful Adoption in UK law: a 5-minute guide [33].

This is at a tangent but throws light on funding 2024 May 18 Guardian How can a child in care cost £281,000 a year? Ask the wealth funds that have councils over a barrel [34].

2021 The Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry [6]

The most recent inquiry into adoptions, “Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976” by the Joint Committee [House of Commons and House of Lords] on Human Rights [6] only covered until 1976, nearly 50 years ago. See also “Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976”. Third Report of Session 2022–23 [11] and short summary here [11a].

In the 28 year span covered by the report 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales, due often to the huge stigma involved in having a child out of wedlock in those times. This is about 6,500 a year. The report said that the Government bore responsibility for what happened to these mothers. It said that an apology by the Government was needed as well as official recognition that what happened to these mothers was dreadful and wrong, as well as other action which would go some way to mitigate the pain and suffering of to those affected.

The Government did not give an apology.

Reacting to the Government’s response, Chair of the JCHR, Joanna Cherry said:

“It is disappointing that the Government has chosen not to issue a formal apology in recognition of the appalling treatment that unmarried mothers suffered during that time, and the lifelong consequences this had on them, on their children, now grown, and all those involved. However, we also recognise that in its response the Government have clearly and repeatedly acknowledged that what happened to unmarried mothers and their children was profoundly wrong.”

Whilst an inquiry into this time period was welcome, the last year looked at was 1976 nearly 50 years ago. However there is a current and more recent crisis in adoption /forced adoption and Family Court in what has become the adoption industry and these problems are still not being addressed. Hence the need for some peoples experiences and data.

Discussion

These are my own opinions without access to any information from the survey. My specialist subject for ten years has been child abuse, not forced adoptions, although they do overlap. My comments should be seen in that light.

The crisis in forced adoptions and family court is known to anyone who has contact with them, yet it carries on year after year to the detriment of children and parents. Due to the silencing of parents and the almost blanket silence from the press and media the crisis gets worse. There are some notable exceptions in the corporate media eg Sue Reid, who has her finger on the pulse and has been brave enough to write about it for years.

Action is needed about the bad practice, malpractice and institutional harms caused by the current adoption and forced adoption system. One of the drivers of adverse outcomes appears to be the financial incentive system for adoptions. Where there is a lot of money involved then the motives of the local councils or adopters may not align with the best outcomes for the child or parents.

The targets for forced adoption are nearly always the children of already vulnerable parents who have limited capability of fighting back. eg the survivors of child abuse themselves when children having their children removed. The system as is, perpetuates the victimisation and abuse of individuals down the generations.

Possible or potential harms are assessed, guessed or fabricated by the authorities of a child remaining with parents. Stock phrases like “future risk of emotional harm” are used to justify removal of children. This coverall term I suspect is not backed up by individual evidence and impossible to fight against. It is jargon to justify forced adoption actions rather than backed up by individual data.

No counterbalancing potential harms for the chosen authority outcome seem to be taken into account. Forced adoption appears to be regarded by the authorities that sanction it as the zero percent future risk scenario, when quite obviously it is not the case. It is not a fair balancing of potential harms. The “Harms By Removals” need to be investigated and publicised, and may well be more than any potential harms of non removal. Part of this is also a culture of massive blame in corporate media on rare and emotional cases eg Baby P, the facts of which get distorted in the process.

Family Court appeas to have been established in the 2013 Act, has been largely unaccountable and the cause of many forced adoptions. Secrecy is rampant in the Family Court and the justification appears to be for the confidentiality of the child. I have not yet tracked down where exactly that secrecy derives its lawful authority. Which sections of which acts enable this would be useful to know. Please put in comments if you know. What I am told is that there is a also standard injunction when losing custody of a child that you cannot go within 200 m of their house or risk imprisonment, and you are not allowed to speak about proceedings, name the children, display photographs or post on social media. Family can also be handed injunctions. Again it would be good to have copies of injunctions and the legal authority from which they derive.

Videos

Adoptee Watch has made several short videos. I only include one here as they are on Google/ YouTube. Apart from the fact that Google epitomises the control and evil of the system most of use are fighting, then I have to spend hundreds of hours on an ongoing basis replacing you tube videos that have been censored / deleted from my old blog posts, before there were alternatives. Videos should always be put onto less censorious platforms like Odysee and Bitchute.

Some information on Adoptee Watch and partners for this project TaKenWatchUK…

Adoptee Watch

Adoptee Watch Twitter https://twitter.com/Paul_B_Tovey [1]

Information and ongoing record about the Survey is here The Link For The Forced Adoption Survey 2002–24 And Ongoing Record [4]

TaKenUK

TaKenUK [5] are also promoting the survey

Twitter TaKenuk https://twitter.com/TaKenuk1 [5a]

Finally don’t forget to do the survey or pass it on to those who may find it useful

Click on pic or link for the survey…

"Mothers and Others" Citizen Survey on:"UK Forced Adoptions 2002 - 2024" [3].

The survey will provide information to prioritise the areas needed to be looked at as well as on which to base future campaigning.

Ongoing information about the survey is on this blog The Link For The Forced Adoption Survey 2002–24 And Ongoing Record [4].

Links

[1] Adoptee Watch Twitter https://twitter.com/Paul_B_Tovey

[2] you tube survey

[3] Forced Adoption Survey https://survey.easyquest.com/swCwjc

[4] Medium The Link For The Forced Adoption Survey 2002–24 And Ongoing Record https://medium.com/@pbt.skills.integration/the-link-for-the-forced-adoption-survey-2002-24-and-ongoing-record-5d94e789916e

[5] TaKen UK https://www.takenuk.com/

[5a] Twitter TaKenuk https://twitter.com/TaKenuk1

[6] Wikipedia Joint Committee on Human Rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Committee_on_Human_Rights

[7] Researching Reform Image of the Month https://researchingreform.net/2024/05/15/image-of-the-month-23/

[8] Wikipedia Forced Adoption in the UK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_adoption_in_the_United_Kingdom

[9] 1989 Children Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/contents

[10] The Violation of Family Life: Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976: Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt5803/jtselect/jtrights/1180/report.html

[11] House of Commons, House of Lords Joint Committee on Human Rights The Violation of Family Life: Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976 Third Report of Session 2022–23 https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/23076/documents/169043/default/

[11a] Report Summary https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt5803/jtselect/jtrights/270/summary.html

[12] 2021 Dec 14 JCHR examines historic treatment of unmarried mothers in adoption inquiry   https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1522/the-right-to-family-life-adoption-of-children-of-unmarried-women-19491976/news/159804/jchr-examines-historic-treatment-of-unmarried-mothers-in-adoption-inquiry/

[13] youtube vid

[14] wikipedia Adoption and Children Act 2002 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_and_Children_Act_2002#:~:text=The%20Adoption%20and%20Children%20Act,and%20Wales%20to%20adopt%20children.

[15] Children and Families Act 2014 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents/enacted

[16] 1976 Adoption Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/36/contents

[17] 2009 Feb Independent Justice Ministry to bar parents from telling their own stories https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/justice-ministry-to-bar-parents-from-telling-their-own-stories-1622154.html

[18] 2008 Jan 31 Mail How social services are paid bonuses to snatch babies for adoption https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-511609/How-social-services-paid-bonuses-snatch-babies-adoption.html

[19] 2012 Apr 12 Standard Councils making millions in incentives after snatching record numbers of babies for adoption https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/councils-making-millions-in-incentives-after-snatching-record-numbers-of-babies-for-adoption-6594474.html

[20] 2007 July 2 Family Link Councils making millions in incentives after snatching record numbers of babies for adoption https://www.familieslink.co.uk/download/sept07/State%20adoption%20targets.pdf

[21] 2016 Mar Adoption A vision for change https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/512826/Adoption_Policy_Paper_30_March_2016.pdf

[22] 2011 Action Plan for Adoption Gove https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180250/action_plan_for_adoption.pdf

[23] 2015 Nov 2 BBC David Cameron bids to speed up adoption process https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34682421

[24] 2013 foxblog1 Children in Children's Homes Can Speak Out Against Abuse https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2013/12/21/it-is-legal-for-children-in-children-homes-to-speak-out-against-abuse/ #csa #childabuse #childrenshomes

[25] Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/26/contents

[26] Crime and Courts Act 2013 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/22/contents

[27] Crime and Courts Act 2013 s17 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/22/section/17

[28] 2023 Mar 3 Government responds to JCHR call for adoption apology https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/93/human-rights-joint-committee/news/186498/government-responds-to-jchr-call-for-adoption-apology/

[29] 2023 Mar 22 BBC Sturgeon issues apology over forced adoption https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65043159

[30] Wikipedia Children Act 1989 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_Act_1989

[31] Taken UK https://x.com/TaKenUK1

[32] 2005 Dec 30 Guardian Unmarried and same-sex couples free to adopt https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/dec/30/adoptionandfostering.childrensservices

[33] 2023 Sept 4 Milners Adoption in UK law: a 5-minute guide https://www.milnerslaw.co.uk/adoption-in-uk-law-a-5-minute-guide

[34] 2024 May 18 Guardian How can a child in care cost £281,000 a year? Ask the wealth funds that have councils over a barrel https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/18/child-care-cost-year-wealth-funds-councils-britain-residential… #care

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