The Spanish Baby Scandal ITV1 9pm tonight

There is a documentary made in Germany on Youtube about this. A Spanish doctor who was responsible for stealing babies from women who had just delivered was finally brought to court in 2018 but not prosecuted as, under the statute of limitations, his crimes were seen as having happened too long ago.

It was said that, under Franco's regime, babies were taken from left wing families and given to right wing families to be "brought up properly". I don't know how much truth there was in this rumour.

It has been estimated that as many as 300,000 babies were abducted both during and ,for some time, after the end of the Franco regime.

I'd also read that it went on during the Civil War. Similar happened in Argentina during the reign of terror under the Generals. The advent of DNA must have helped in reuniting stolen babies with their blood relatives.

Didn’t t the Irish nuns in the work houses used to sometimes sell the babies to US etc ?

I confess to not having known about this. Thank goodness this country doesn’t have a statute of limitations as regards crimes. So many are now being solved decades after they happened thanks to DNA.

I can’t imagine the pain of having your baby taken away. Unimaginable.

Spain is by no means the only country where babies are taken and then sold but I think that the systematic robbing of parents of healthy new born babies while in hospital is unusual.

There is a harrowing story of a mother who had her baby taken away shortly after birth. The live baby was taken away "to be baptised" and then she was told the baby had died. What happened next is so upsetting that I can't bring myself to write about it. The full story is on Youtube.

Should be were taken, sorry Spain.

Thanks for the reminder Barleyfields.I read an article about this in The Times on Saturday but forgot when it was on.

It was such a wicked thing to do, those poor mothers.

If I remember correctly, one of the early Gransnet book club offerings was about this scandal. It was a fictionalised account and I can’t remember the name of the book or the author, it was very revealing.

Do any other old timers remember it?

I watched the programe this evening. Absolutely shocking!! Very hard to believe this wicked practice happened - and relatively recently too. How can so called men of God ( or women) tell a woman her child has died and then sell it - beggers belief. If you haven't seen this please try and watch on catch up. I am upset and angry in equal measure.

It was really shocking and heartbreaking that not one of the parents saw their dead child, was that not acceptable then?

This is what puts me of organised religion, how could anyone do that, never mind the Church, just proves they don't believe what they preach, hypocrites. How can wars be fought in the name of religion, there's only one God for all.
I can’t imagine going through childbirth and never seeing the baby. The pain of those mothers is unimaginable.

merlotgran

If I remember correctly, one of the early Gransnet book club offerings was about this scandal. It was a fictionalised account and I can’t remember the name of the book or the author, it was very revealing.

Do any other old timers remember it?

Was it The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards?

I watched the programme having done a bit of background research.

I was somewhat prepared but still profoundly shocked by the testimony of the two mothers, whose children had be stolen and how they both bore deep scars, not only from having believed that their children had died but also from the subsequent revelation that there children had been taken from them and sold.

I did not realise that this was still going on as late as 1992 (probably even later) a long time after after the death of Franco in 1975 and the subsequent reforms.

It became clear that what started as a political move, to weaken left wing support, had turned into a nice little earner which was why it had continued for so long.

Nicky Campbell described it as "Immorality purporting to be morality" as an explanation as to why so many nuns as well as doctors and officials were involved. It seems that taking babies from "unworthy" parents was seen as fulfilling God's will.

Thank you for starting this thread Barley fields

Allsorts

This is what puts me of organised religion, how could anyone do that, never mind the Church, just proves they don't believe what they preach, hypocrites. How can wars be fought in the name of religion, there's only one God for all.
I can’t imagine going through childbirth and never seeing the baby. The pain of those mothers is unimaginable.

like any organisation there are good and bad in the church, but many people use faith to give them a veneer of respectability

Anyone seen the film Philomena with(I think) Judy Dench and Steve Coogan? Very powerful and much closer to home.

I watched the program and considering this was still ongoing in Spain in the early 1990s is actually really perturbing.
As an adoptee myself, my Birth Mother was told I was sent to Australia… heartbreaking for her to know I was raised in the same city she was living in- shame on the nuns and the Catholic Society who arranged this

BlueBelle

Didn’t t the Irish nuns in the work houses used to sometimes sell the babies to US etc ?

Yep they sure did. Horrible people

Bridie22

It was really shocking and heartbreaking that not one of the parents saw their dead child, was that not acceptable then?

I think it wasn't until the 1980s/1990s that parents were allowed to see their dead baby in hospital. The thinking was that if they didn't see the baby they wouldn't become attached, I believe.

Equally distressing was that bereaved mothers were returned to the maternity wards where they had to watch other mothers nurse their new babies.

loopylyn2

Anyone seen the film Philomena with(I think) Judy Dench and Steve Coogan? Very powerful and much closer to home.

Yes I have seen this film loopylyn.

I watched something similar. Very upsetting. Couldn't imagine how I wouldn't have been driven insane with rage at the thought of someone stealing my baby. I'd definitely not want to be held responsible for my actions.

I do remember this surfacing some years ago, but last night's program was very interesting. It confirms my opinion that organised religion is a corrupt and self serving. How many other instances of abuse by the church will surface over the years.

Have you really only just heard about this now?

In Denmark it was on our TV the year the scandal broke in Spain, if we are talking about what went on under Franco's regime. I honestly do not remember when it was we heard about it, but I do know it was rumoured in Spain only a couple of years (literally) after Franco's death.

I'll have to watch it, casting my mind back to the film Philomena, true story, that happened to her, it was definitely a thing in Ireland. I know it was widespread in Spain under the auspices of Franco and it also happened to dissenters in Argentina who railed against the military junta there. Awful people