Dr Michael Lambert from Lancaster Medical School has appeared before Parliament to speak about historic forced adoption.

He was invited to appear before the House of Commons Education Committee to give evidence based on his research.

The event was a non-inquiry session held on Historical Forced Adoption following up on the recommendations from the Joint Committee on Human Rights (the JCHR) where he also served as an expert witness.

In its report The Violation of Family Life: Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976, the JCHR made a series of recommendations, including on access to adoption records, the sharing of medical information, complaint mechanisms, and notification processes for birth mothers.

The Committee also called for an apology by the Government and official recognition that what happened to these mothers and their children was wrong.

Dr Lambert said: “I welcome the opportunity afforded by the Education Committee to speak about the urgency of the issues around historic forced adoption in terms of recognising church, state and social work involvement, and the lack of progress on recommendations provided by the 2022 JCHR report.

“It was heartening to see commitments from both the Chair and Members of the Committee to take the matter forward with the Education Department and Secretary of State, particularly following years of appeals by myself, campaigners and advocates which have not been treated with seriousness or timeliness given the advancing age of many of those impacted by these deeply harmful policies and practices.”

In his oral evidence Dr Lambert highlighted how:

• The state, churches and emerging social work profession worked together to ensure there was no meaningful choice for unmarried women forced to give up their babies for adoption.
• Archive evidence disproved the claim of the previous government in their reply to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry report that the state was not actively involved and therefore could not apologise.
• An apology from the UK Government is urgently needed to unburden longstanding feelings of shame and blame from both mothers and adoptees and to correct the public record.
• Any apology is meaningless without corresponding action, with learning needed from the hollow apologies from other governments and institutions.
• The Education Committee should now ask for a renewed response from the government to the recommendations from the Joint Committee on Human Rights (the JCHR) in its report.

Other witnesses who gave evidence included Professor Gordon Harold, Professor of the Psychology of Education and Mental Health, University of Cambridge; Dr Janet Greenlees, Reader in Health History, Glasgow Caledonian University; Dr James Gallen, Associate Professor, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University; Emma Crowther-Duncan, National Development Lead, PAC-UK; Brenda Farrell, UK Director for Fostering, Adoption & Children In Care, Barnardo's; Colonel Peter Forrest, Chief Secretary, The Salvation Army UK and Ireland; Emily Frith, CEO, Adoption UK.