Church of England expected to formally apologise for its role in forced adoptions

Survivors of UK’s mother and baby home scandal welcome news after long campaign for recognition The Church of England is expected to make a formal apology for its role in forced adoptions and the UK’s mother and baby home scandal. Survivors of the scandal – in which hundreds of thousands of children were forcibly separated from their mothers – have welcomed the news after years of campaigning for recognition. The church ran and was linked to scores of institutions across the country where unmarried pregnant women were sent to have babies in secret in the postwar era before the infants were handed over to married couples, who in some cases had made donations to “moral welfare” organisations involved. Anglican mother and baby homes were part of a network of properties nationwide, including homes run by the Catholic church and the Salvation Army, which worked alongside statutory agencies. Women and children faced abuse and neglect in the system, but the Westminster government has never formally apologised for its role. The BBC reports that an “early draft” of an apology from the Church of England said: “We acknowledge the lifelong impact of these experiences and the part the church pl