Victims of forced adoption demand an apology from the Dutch government
Victims of forced adoption in the Netherlands are demanding a public apology from the government for its role in practices that took place between the 1950s and the 1980s, during which thousands of children were forcibly taken from their unmarried mothers. This demand comes following the release of a long-awaited report titled "The Harm of Shame," which was presented on Thursday by a government committee that investigated cases of local forced adoption.
The report clarified that around 15,000 children were adopted between 1956 and 1984, indicating that a large part of those cases occurred under social, religious, or familial pressure. Mothers suffered significant psychological harm, as many were forced to give up their children due to the community's negative perception of unmarried mothers.
The committee recommended granting mothers official recognition of the harm they suffered, in addition to providing support for affected children in their attempts to search for their origins. The committee also suggested including this issue in the "Canon van Nederland," a register that highlights significant events in Dutch history.
However, the committee did not recommend that the government issue an official apology, which sparked widespread anger among the victims. Barbalyk Peters, from the "Verleden in Zicht" foundation representing the affected children, expressed her disappointment, describing the report as "deeply disappointing." She added, "The recommendations do not even come close to meeting our demands. We will not accept this. We will demand an official apology that includes government acknowledgment, access to records, and real compensation." Peters criticized the report, saying it reflects outdated thinking from the 1950s, adding, "Without an apology, the shame remains as if the mother and child are the ones at fault."
Unlike countries such as Ireland, Belgium, Scotland, and Australia, the Netherlands has not yet issued any apology for cases of forced adoption. Last March, the Hague Court of Appeal ruled that the state could not be held legally responsible for the psychological harm suffered by mothers, as the case is very old.
This case was raised by Trudy Schille-Gertsen, who gave birth to her child in 1968 at the age of 22 while staying with nuns at the Paula institution in Gelderland. She gave birth to her child blindfolded and never saw him, meeting him for the first time only in 2018, after he spent the first three years of his life in a care home and was then adopted. For his part, committee chairman Micha de Winter defended the report, asserting that it provided a comprehensive account of the system's failures and those responsible for them.