For those who fought for the truth to be heard, we hear you now…

UM

Those are the words of Australian Prime Minister Gillard in her apology to mothers, adoptees, sisters, brothers, fathers and others harmed by forced adoption.

I’ve said it on this blog before, what happened to us wasn’t right.  As in Australia, here in Canada there was no informed consent and there were oh so many lies.  Lies about our ability to raise the babies we had given birth to, lies about the known impact of adoption on us and the children who were relinquished, lies about the perfection of the adoptive parent pool. Some of us were not permitted to see or hold our babies.  Well, Australia after considerable study and research, has come to realize these practices were wrong and inflicted great harm.

So, be you mother, adoptee or one of the others, get out the Kleenex and watch this all the way through.  Australia so gets it, it is unbelievable.

Australian Prime Minister’s Apology to Mothers and Adoptees.

I just wrote to the Honourable Julia Gillard in Australia to say thank you. If you would like to do the same, here is the link to her website.

Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia

Will we ever see this happen in this country?

I hope the day is coming.

Peace

UM

Adoption Apologies

UM

As I’ve said on this blog before, what happened to us wasn’t right.

With respect to our adoption experience, there was no informed consent and there were oh so many lies.

Lies about our ability to raise the babies we had given birth to, lies about the impact of adoption on us and the children who were relinquished, lies about the perfection of the adoptive parent pool.

In Australia they appear to have the courage and compassion to admit that adoption practices were not good and caused much hurt.

Australian Apologycaused much hurt.  They apologized on July 18th.

Tears Flow After Australia Adoption Apology

Will we ever see that happen in this country?

I hope the day is coming.

Peace

UM

P.S.  It may say something about my searching skills but I had trouble finding the content of the actual apology on line.   This image comes from The Life of Von  who has written about the impact of the apology from the perspective of an adoptee.

Overdue Apologies

One country down, how many to go…

Australia’s Roman Catholic Church apologizes for its adoption policies in the 60′s

R is for Revisiting “Sorry For Any Inconvenience” – UM’s Most Popular Post

NaBloPoMo Blog#432 Day 23

adoption, reunion, reform, Reality

Dear Readers,

I have been dealing with elderly parent issues over the last four or five days, and travelling to do so.  I am finding it hard to post.

This is the most read thing on this blog.

I don’t know if it is because everyone hates the phrase “Sorry for Any Inconvenience” or because this little post so neatly illustrates one of the problems with adoption.

Here it is:

Sorry for any inconvenience…

In my opinion, “Sorry for any inconvenience.” has to be one of the most insincere phrases in the English language, tossed off usually in a manner that leads you to believe the person, corporation, telephone company, cable provider or government service is anything but sorry.

In that vein here is an announcement from the government of my home province. For some reason, it makes me think about the CAS – that’s Children’s Aid Society – and asking them how they feel about issuing a few apologies.

Attorney General Chris Bentley says a proposed apology act for the province would help make the justice system more affordable and punctual.

The provincial government last week rolled out proposed legislation that would remove the risk of civil court liability for individuals and organizations that issue apologies.

The government said the new law would help victims’ recovery, improve accountability and transparency in the health-care sector, and aid the justice system by “fostering the resolution of civil disputes and shortening or avoiding litigation.”

Bentley said, “The goal of the legislation is to encourage sincere apologies — saying sorry for a mistake or wrongdoing is the right thing to do.”

So maybe I should call the CAS. Let’s see what would I ask them to apologize for. Maybe the fact that they knew at the time I had my son that there were no Catholic homes looking to adopt a child. Maybe for not telling me that they had a policy that said he could not be adopted by a family of another faith. And for not telling me that my son, therefore, would go straight to foster care. And that he sat for almost 10 months until finally a family showed up. Not the perfect family, just the first one.

Yes that might be a good place to start. They should apologize don’t you think.

After all, it’s not going to cost them anything.

Peace

UM

UM’s Most Popular Post So Far

I thought it be interesting to see, since I hadn’t written for a while, which of my archived posts was getting the most on-going traffic since Unsigned Masterpiece began in July of 2008.

It is “Sorry for Any Inconvenience” posted October 20, 2008. Here it is:

Sorry for Any Inconveninece….

In my opinion, “Sorry for any inconvenience.” has to be one of the most insincere phrases in the English language, tossed off usually in a manner that leads you to believe the person, corporation, telephone company, cable provider or government service is anything but sorry.

In that vein here is an announcement from the government of my home province. For some reason, it makes me think about the CAS – that’s Children’s Aid Society – and asking them how they feel about issuing a few apologies.

Attorney General Chris Bentley says a proposed apology act for the province would help make the justice system more affordable and punctual.

The provincial government last week rolled out proposed legislation that would remove the risk of civil court liability for individuals and organizations that issue apologies.

The government said the new law would help victims’ recovery, improve accountability and transparency in the health-care sector, and aid the justice system by “fostering the resolution of civil disputes and shortening or avoiding litigation.”

Bentley said, “The goal of the legislation is to encourage sincere apologies — saying sorry for a mistake or wrongdoing is the right thing to do.”

So maybe I should call the CAS. Let’s see what would I ask them to apologize for. Maybe the fact that they knew at the time I had my son that there were no Catholic homes looking to adopt a child. Maybe for not telling me that they had a policy that said he could not be adopted by a family of another faith. And for not telling me that my son, therefore, would go straight to foster care. And that he sat for almost 10 months until finally a family showed up. Not the perfect family, just the first one.

Yes that might be a good place to start. They should apologize don’t you think.

After all, it’s not going to cost them anything.

Peace

UM