The Spanish Baby Scandal ITV1 9pm tonight

BlueBelle

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

Yes, they constantly sold babies, who were taken away usually without the mother being told. One of these babies, now grown up, in the US, contacted my family because she had just discovered about her sale in family papers locked in a desk.after the deaths of her adoptive parents. She had contacted the nuns who had sent her away and they were unhelpful. Terrible things were and are done in the name of religion.I'm not sure how widely this is known in the UK, but there is now a redress scheme whereby if you were born in an unmarried moither's home in Ireland you can claim payment from the Irish government for time spent in these homes, at the moment the time must be over six months, but there is a court case current which may change this to less time. Claims will be accepted for five years.

ITVx is where you can watch

I wish I had seen this. Where can I see it. Can anyone give me an idea please.

BlueBelle

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

Yes they did, The film Philomena tells one woman's story of such theft

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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

Should be were taken, sorry Spain.

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.

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.