I left the child in the hospital: personal experience

All these stories are from the middle of the last century, they all happened in England. Getting pregnant without being married was a shame. And girls – or girls – were forced to give birth and then give their children up for adoption. The number of such babies, practically taken away from their mothers, is more than half a million. Broken fates of women, children …

What happened to these women is very scary. But should they be blamed for giving up their own children? After all, they, in fact, had no choice.

Jenny Satchell was only 13 years old when some bastard raped her. She recalled:

“I didn’t go to school that day – I got sick. Lay at home in bed. I knew this man. “

He broke into our house to rob it, and then decided to rape me as well. I didn’t know anything about sex then. I was innocent.

Three months later, it was discovered that the girl was pregnant. Just think, the baby had to give birth to the baby!

“I told my parents everything, but no one believed me. The police didn’t believe it either. And there was no such thing as a DNA test then. My mother looked at me with disgust. She arranged for me to be taken to a special home for unmarried mothers. From the very moment I learned about the pregnancy, I knew that the child would be taken away, ”the woman said.

There were many like her in this charity house. Jenny was the oldest. What horror these girls experienced when childbirth began is impossible to imagine. After all, they did not even understand what was happening.

Jenny Satchell is now 71 years old. After that terrible incident, she still managed to recover and become happy. She has five children.

“I returned to the house where I gave birth to my first child, my son. I was told that my case is rare. “

Most of the girls who found themselves in the same situation as me either ended up in prison, or in a psychiatric hospital, or committed suicide.

Jenny found her son 38 years later. But a close relationship between them did not work out. The man could not accept that his birth was not the fruit of love, but a tragedy.

Ann Gilbert is now 67 years old. She became pregnant at 17. Upon learning of this, her parents sent her out of the house to the home of the mother and child. She spent a whole month with her daughter Haley. Then she was taken away and given up for adoption.

It broke my heart. But I had no choice. My father did not want to see me after that. And my mother did not dare to take my side.

Ann got married two years later, hoping to find a family. And then a new blow awaited her: it turned out that she could no longer have children. Affected complications after that first pregnancy.

“I wanted so much that I someday had children, to mess with them … And instead I had only pain, pain about my baby, which I gave.”

But Ann was lucky: her biological daughter found her. The woman admitted: it was very scary to meet with Hayley. What if she blames her biological mother? But no. Hayley, as it turned out, was even grateful to Ann for not getting rid of the child, although she could.

Janet Henley became pregnant at age 19. Her father insisted that she leave home as soon as the pregnancy became visible. So she ended up in the home of a mother and child – judging by the name, this society was supposed to protect unmarried girls who found themselves in a difficult situation, but in reality everything turned out to be wrong. The huge Victorian building looked more like a prison than a home for single mothers.

We were made to feel like the dregs of society. Not only were our children taken away from us, but they also treated us as if we were criminals.

The woman is now 75 years old. But she remembers the events of those times as if everything was yesterday. Janet was one of the elders. Some girls were barely 13-14 years old.

“We were raised at 6 am and sent to clean the house. Kneeling, we polished the parquet all day long. We were also allowed to go to church on Sundays. But they didn’t allow us to take the sacrament: we were too bad, according to the matrons, ”says Janet.

The girl gave birth to her first child on a frosty winter day. The room was so cold that the curtains froze to the windows.

I almost dropped the baby when I gave it to him. Tears covered my eyes. For many months I dreamed about it, and I woke up from my own scream.

Then everything worked out. Janet got married, gave birth to two daughters. And then I decided to find my son. At that time he was already 36 years old.

“I found him and dared to call. I will remember our first conversation with him for the rest of my life. We talked for seven hours without a break, says Janet. – Now we communicate constantly. But the pain doesn’t go anywhere. It still seems to me that one day I will wake up and look for him again. “