ROME – The Irish government has released a controversial report explaining why it was okay for tens of thousands of unmarried mothers to be forced into state-funded Catholic homes between the 1920s and 1990s to give up their babies for adoption. The report states that as many as 9,000 children died in 14 homes run by Catholic nuns, but gives little reason why. In the nearly 3,000-page tome, the government blames unmarried mothers, their families and society as a whole, by angering a number of victims who have called it a “whitewash.”
Some reports have suggested that the original report had 4,000 pages and 1,000 pages were cut before it was released to the public.
“The women in mother and baby houses should not have been there. They should have been at home with their families, ”says the Irish Mother and Baby Homes Commission report. The reality, however, is that most had no choice – they were, or expected to be, rejected by their families and needed a place to stay. Most were unable to take care of the baby. They were not “locked up” in the strict sense of the word, but in the years before, at least, with some justification, they thought they were. They were always free to leave if they took their child with them. “
The lengthy report is full of grim details about the residents of the houses. One of them, called “resident (A)”, was raped by her boyfriend and became pregnant at the age of 18. “She told the committee she saw ‘about 10’ deceased babies being sent for burial in what appeared to be shoe boxes.”
Another person called ‘Resident (H)’ says she became pregnant as a result of rape when she was 20. “When she visited the pastor to tell her story, she said the priest subsequently sexually assaulted her in his car,” the report says. Castlepollard’s medical officer examined her once a week: ‘I hated him; he was so rough, he examined me internally from the back passage and I was in pain for many years after that. ”
Throughout the report, the authors refer to practices “of the time” and the stigma of unmarried mothers, with little mention of the fathers or the fact that the mother’s last home was not closed until the late 1990s. The report focused on 56,000 unmarried mothers, some as young as 12, and 57,000 children born in the mother and baby homes, but admits that there were likely an additional 25,000 unmarried mothers and more children in homes not approved by the committee were investigated. .
The report does not thoroughly explain why the remains of 767 fetuses and babies were found in a septic system at the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, blaming instead infant mortality and lack of burial records.
“Some failed to keep records of the funerals of deceased children,” the report said. “The committee finds it very difficult to believe that there is no one in that municipality who is not aware of the children’s funerals. Likewise, the committee believes there must be people in Tuam who know more about funerals there. “
The report also amounts to a house in Bessborough where many other human remains have been found. “The committee finds it very difficult to understand the apparent inability of any member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary to help locate the burial sites of children who died in Bessborough,” the authors found.
An interim report published in April 2019 provided grim details leading up to the final report. “The memorial garden contains human remains dating back to the period of operation of the Tuam Children’s Home, so it is likely that a large number of the children who died in the Tuam House are buried there,” the April report said. then refers to other human remains found in a waste disposal area of the home. “The human remains found by the committee are not in a waste water tank, but in a second 20-chamber structure built within the decommissioned large waste water tank.”
Those remains “involved a number of individuals with an age at death ranging from about 35 weeks to 2-3 years,” the report claims. The interim report also says that the authors were “surprised by the lack of knowledge of the funerals on the part of the Galway County Council and the Sisters of Bon Secours who ran the house.”
The controversial Mother and Baby Homes are featured in the movie Philomena, which tells the story of a woman looking for her son who has been adopted by an American couple.
Born in Dublin, Terri Harrison was in a house after she became pregnant and moved to London, but was ‘kidnapped’ by nuns who brought her back to Ireland. She described to the committee the gruesome details of her stay there. “Your child was placed in the closed daycare center, they only opened those doors during dinner,” she said, according to Dublin Live. “And then you shouldn’t hold your baby or hug your baby because the nun keeps reminding you that it would upset your son’s mom and dad if the baby got used to you.”
She says she can never forget the kids’ horrific screams and one of them suddenly disappeared. ‘I remember the screams and I take them to my grave. You always knew when a baby was missing from the nursery, ”she said. “It’s the strangest sound you’ll ever hear, like wildlife. I remember when I found his bed empty, that same sound came out of me, but it didn’t sound like me. “
Mari Steed, now 60, was one of the babies born in a home in Cork. She told NBC News that as an adult she found that she and other babies born in a home were part of what she called a “ highly unethical ” vaccination trial, where she was injected with experimental injections against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio – all which is expected to be described in the final report released Tuesday. “Scientifically I understand that there is no more perfect research group than a group of children in captivity. But that required huge ethical protocols, and it just wasn’t followed, ”Steed, who was adopted by an American family, told NBC. “Whether it was because of sheer ignorance or ‘we don’t care what happens to those kids’ – that part of it still pisses me off.”
The report acknowledges the trials. “It is clear that the relevant regulatory and ethical standards of the time were not being adhered to as consent was not obtained from the mothers of the children or their guardians and the necessary permits were not in place,” the report said. “However, who is the guardian is largely irrelevant, as no attempt appears to have been made to seek parental or guardian consent. There is no evidence of harm to the affected children as a result of the vaccines. “
The Vatican has said it will not comment on the report until it has read it.
The report is the result of six years of labor by Judge Yvonne Murphy, who collected shared experiences of the thousands of women for government compensation.
The final report should pave the way for legislation drafted by Irish Minister of Children Roderic O’Gorman, which aims to ensure the exhumation, identification and reburial of all bodies found in the 18 houses. That legislation could also lead to compensation for the victims, many of whom spent their lives seeking out if their newborns were adopted or mysteriously died and buried in unnamed graves.
Irish Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, Micheal Martin, addressed the victims in a video conference before making the report public. He is expected to publicly apologize to the victims during a parliamentary session on Wednesday.