Mums want apology

By MARA PATTISON-SOWDEN and MELISSA MEEHAN
JUNE Smith says an unequivocal apology will be the first step down the road of acknowledging a hidden part of Australian history.
The former Yarra Junction mother first told her story to the Mail in 2008, when she called for a national inquiry into forced adoption.
That inquiry, tabled in parliament in February 2012, found that as many as 250,000 babies were forcibly adopted throughout Australia during the 1950s to 1970s.
It also found that the emotional damage caused remained significant to this day, and recommended all states, territories and non-government agencies that administered adoptions should issue formal statements of apology.
The Victorian Government announced this month that it would formally apologise to the women, children and families that were affected, in special proceedings at State Parliament on Thursday 25 October.
Ms Smith said she wasn’t just fighting for her own history anymore, but for the mothers who still found the experience too difficult to talk about.
“I’ve had women who have been held up to speak, they sob and sob and it’s heart-wrenching to watch,” she said.
“We’re now 60, 70, some close to 80 years old – we’re not young people any more and we’ve put up with a life of this.
“My son’s grown up in this country for 50 years and I haven’t seen him since he was born,” Ms Smith said.
“They demonised us, the mothers, there was no-one that stood up to say this was wrong.
“They’ve got a long way to go apart from words.”
Ms Smith said an apology had to be unequivocal, “they have to admit what they did – it’s no good saying they had no choice or it was law at the time”.
“I have seen so much misery,” she said.
She has also lived it.
At 19, an unmarried Ms Smith gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
During her pregnancy Ms Smith said she was advised by most of those around her that it would be best for the baby if she adopted it out to a married, loving family.
“When you’re a young girl with no-one, pregnant and alone, everyone says you have to put the baby up for adoption,” Ms Smith said.
“But then your baby starts to move and once you have your baby you never want to see it go.
“I never wanted to let him go but I was overwhelmed with people at the hospital and the nuns telling me that I wasn’t good enough, that someone else would be better for my child,” Ms Smith said.
“The worst thing I was told was that if I loved my son, I would give him away.”
Ms Smith said the pressure from medical staff and religious representatives was overwhelming.
“They demeaned you, they disempowered you, they gave you no other choice, you were never offered any type of alternative,” Ms Smith said.
Ms Smith remembers a wave of uncontrollable sadness rushing over her entire body when she saw her son leave the room.
Ms Smith said all children who were taken from their mothers during this time needed to know the abuses their mothers went through.
“They need to know they were not given away because their parents didn’t love them or because they didn’t want them. They need to know we didn’t have a choice.”
A support group for women around Victoria who had their children forcibly removed meets once a month at the QV Women’s Centre in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. For more information, visit www.armsvic.org.au