The adoption machine: the dark history of Ireland's mother and baby homes and the inside story of how Tuam 800 became a global scandal
History, European history
Human-narrated audio
Summary
Approximately 100,000 single mothers lost their babies to forced separation in Ireland since independence in 1922. 35,000 pregnant, single women were sent to nine Mother and Baby Homes, where thousands of their babies and young children died due to wilful… neglect and indifference. Castlepollard Mother and Baby Home survivor, Paul Redmond, examines how and why the Mother and Baby Home network was built and how it transformed into a ruthless and efficient money-making machine, harvesting up to 97% of all babies born outside marriage, with many used as 'guinea pigs' for pharmaceutical research. The religious orders effectively generated vast profits from selling Irish babies to local and overseas arranged adoptions.