Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace.

Yes lemsip, thinking about it, they would hardly have been wearing tight leggings and little crop tops with a huge tummy exposed back in the 60’s, as is commonplace nowadays.

Thanks polyester57 I found it and have just watched last night's again with DH. He was tearful watching it too.

The day before #3 was born I was waddling down the street trying to run as I was late picking #2 up from nursery.
I apologised for being slow and was asked "why, what's the matter with you?"
I had quite a loose coat on but still... he was an 8lb baby

More tears for me when watching the 2nd episode.
Yet I love watching these programmes!

These 2 shows have just broken my heart. And there must be so many more. I cannot forgive the mother in the first episode who left 2 children (6 years apart), and weirdly on different sides of the Irish border! If left closer, the tartan bags might have alerted the authorities and they might have found each other earlier. The second episode, I do believe the mother must have had severe postnatal depression, but I wonder if the father could have done something to find the boy later on. Truly tragic.

Perhaps we should remember that people were more judgemental in the past; girls/women who 'got into trouble' were looked down upon. When I was young I lived near a 'home for unmarried mothers'. everyone knew why they were there and the comments made were just awful. The boys/men ,of course, got away with it more often than not. No disapproving comments about them. How many babies were born 6-7 months after a shotgun wedding?
Thank goodness that we live in an age where birth control is free and readily available, at least in the UK, thank goodness no-one is forced into having a shotgun wedding with the likelihood that the marriage will fail, thank goodness that the stigma associated with being an 'unmarried mother' has mostly dissipated.
Perhaps we should think about what it was really like then and be glad times have changed. If life had been different then , most of these children would have had very different lives.

Schnackid, it is not up to us to forgive, the poor woman had little choice.

In Southern Ireland the shame of having an affair with a Protestant, being pregnant and unmarried would have been just dreadful.

There was no contraception available and the country was run by the Catholic Church.

You only have to read about the laundries and the way the poor girls were treated, their families put them there knowing how cruel the nuns could be.

Poor woman.

She had the choice not to continue the affair Missfoodlove as did the man concerned of course. I can summon up very little sympathy.

MissFoodLove of course it not for me to forgive or judge. I apologise for that. I should have said I am just extremely sad and upset. And I certainly do understand the social sanctions of the times, especially in Ireland. I have read the books about the cruel nuns and laundries, and also the book/film of Philomena.

* sodapop* did she though?

He sounds a very determined man and probably wielded considerable power over her. The kind of person who'd have told her to get an abortion rather than make him own up to supporting the child. He may have fathered more than 16 children.

It would be interesting to know what the siblings subsequently discovered. Sorry I am speculating and judging but that's what the programme is designed to make us viewers do. It has certainly broadened my knowledge and reminded me of those awful times.

My own mother who was taught by Irish nuns in a convent and was full of dire warnings to us girls about adultery and premarital sex. "No nice man will ever want to marry you"

The adultery thing has stuck.

Both episodes made me cry, who are we to judge not knowing all the circumstances, so very sad.

I understand your way of thinking Grammaretto however I'm a bit dubious about how much control he could exert given the situation.
Of course things were very different then.