Baby Scoop Era

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The Baby Scoop Era is a period in the history of the anglosphere beginning after the end of World War II and ending in the early 1970s, characterized by an increase in pre-marital pregnancy rates over the previous period, along with higher adoption rates.

Video Baby Scoop Era

History

In the United States

From 1945 to 1973, it was estimated that up to 4 million mothers in the United States had children who were placed for adoption, with 2 million during the 1960s alone. The annual number for non-relative adoption increased from an estimated 33,800 in 1951 to a peak of 89,200 in 1970, then rapidly declined to about 47,700 in 1975. (This does not include the number of infants adopted and raised by relatives.) In contrast, the Department of Health and the Humanitarian Service estimated that only 14,000 babies were placed for adoption in 2003.

This historical period has been documented in scientific books such as Wake Up Little Susie and Beggars and Choosers, both by historian Rickie Solinger, and the social history of the book The < Girls Who Went Away and his documentary, A Girl Like Her , based on Ann Fessler's book. Fessler is a professor of photography at the Rhode Island School of Design who showcased art installations entitled The Girls Who Went Away . This is also the documentary theme of "Gone To A Good Home" by Australian Movies.

Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, unauthorized began to be defined in terms of maternal psychological deficits. At the same time, liberalization of sexual customs combined with restrictions on access to birth control leads to an increase in prenuptial pregnancies. The dominant psychological and social outlook is that most unmarried mothers are better separated by adoption from their newborns. According to Mandell (2007), "In many cases, adoption is given to the mother as the only option and little or no effort is made to help mothers keep and raise children."

Solinger describes the social pressure that leads to this unusual trend, explaining that women who have no control over their reproductive lives are defined by psychological theories as "not mothers," and that is because they have no control over their reproductive life, they are subject. to the ideology of those who watch over them. Thus, for unmarried pregnant white women and girls in the pre-Roe era, the ultimate opportunity to reach home and marriage rests on their recognition of their shame and guilt, and it is necessary to let go their children, with more than 80% of unmarried white mothers in maternity homes acting in essence as "breeders" for adoptive white parents. According to Ellison, from 1960 to 1970, 27 percent of all births for women married between the ages of 15 and 29 were prematurely conceived. This problem is thought to be caused by female neurosis, and those who can not have an abortion, legally or otherwise, are encouraged to prepare their children for adoption.

In popular use, singer Celeste Billhartz uses the term on his website to refer to the era covered by his work "The Mothers Project." A letter on Senator Bill Finch's website uses that term as well. Author Betty Mandell references the term in his article "Adoption". The term is also used in the 2004 edition of Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Infant adoption began to decline in the early 1970s, a decline often associated with reduced birth rates, but also partly resulting from social and legal changes that allowed white middle-class mothers to have a single mothering alternative.

The decline in fertility rates was associated with the introduction of the pill in 1960, the completion of the legalization of artificial birth control methods, the introduction of federal funding to make family planning services more available to young and low-income, and legalized abortion.

Brozinsky (1994) speaks of decreasing adoption of newborns reflecting the freedom of choice adopted by youth and the women's movement in the 1960s and 1970s, resulting in an increase in the number of unmarried mothers caring for their babies compared to those taken for purpose of adoption. "In 1970, about 80% of babies born to single mothers were [...] [taken for adoption purposes], whereas in 1983 that figure fell to just 4%."

In contrast to figures in the 1960s and 1970s, from 1989 to 1995, fewer than 1% of children born to unmarried women surrendered for adoption.

In the Commonwealth

Similar social developments occur in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

In Canada

Canada's "Baby Scoop Era" refers to the postwar period from 1945 to 1988, when over 400,000 unmarried pregnant people, mostly aged 15-19 (usually Caucasians), were targeted for their unborn babies, simply because they were unmarried a child. A large number of these young women were locked up as inmates in maternity homes, run by religious orders, such as Salvation Army, Catholic Church, United Church and Anglican Church etc. "Home" maternity is funded heavily. by the Canadian government. There are over 70 birthing houses in Canada that accommodate between 20 and 200 pregnant women at a time. In maternity homes "Canada" and hospitals, up to 100% of newborns are excluded from their legal mothers after birth and given for adoption purposes. These newborns are taken under the Health and Welfare protocol.

Some professionals of the era consider that maternal punishment for offenses is an essential part of the process. Dr. Marion Hilliard from Women's College Hospital quoted in 1956 says:

The father really does not play a role in this. That's part of his rehabilitation. When he hands over his son for his own good, the unmarried mother has learned a great deal. He has learned important human values. He has learned to pay the price of his crime, and this alone, if punishment is necessary, is sufficient punishment... We must return to a series of core values ​​and disciplines that begin with very small children.

The term Baby Scoop Era is similar to the term Sixties Scoop, created by Patrick Johnston, author of The Original Child and Child Welfare System. "Sixties Scoop" refers to Canadian practice, beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the late 1980s, by capturing the extraordinarily high number of indigenous children above the age of 5 from their families and nurturing or adopting them, white families.. A similar event occurred in Australia where Aboriginal children, sometimes referred to as Stolen Generations, were expelled from their families and placed in internment camps, orphanages and other institutions.

In Australia

A period similar to forced adoption, also known as "The Generation of Stolen White", also occurs in Australia. It is generally understood that the decline of adoption during the 1970s was associated with the 1973 law that provides financial assistance to single parents.

Maps Baby Scoop Era

Media depictions

• Documentary girl like her (2011)
• Go to the Good House (Australian Film 2006) . The Australian National Interest Program works in collaboration with the Big Island Pictures. Produced in collaboration with the Pacific Film and Television Commission and the SBS Independent.
• Eternal: Lost Girls by Ann Fessler. Described as "multi-channel, the installation of surround-sound audio based on Ann Fessler's oral interviews was conducted with women who submitted babies for adoption in the 1950s and 1960s (as described in the" Calendar, "Duke University, taken October 22, 2007)
• The Other Mother: A Moment of Truth Movie (1995) (TV) Directed: Bethany Rooney. Author (WGA): Carol Schaefer (book), Steven Loring.
• The Magdalene Sisters (2002) Director: Peter Mullan, Author: Peter Mullan
• Love, War, Adoption (2007) Directed by Suzie Kidnap.

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References

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Further reading

• Aston, Jonny. "Hopefully you are," ISBN 978-0-646-57639-8 written and published by Jonny Aston. Personal reports about teenage pregnancy, adoption and reunion, depict social attitudes and prejudices of the 1960s.
• Buterbaugh, K. "Not by Choice," Eclectica , August 2001.
• Buterbaugh, K. "Set Up Straight Record", Moxie Magazine , April 2001.
• Fessler, A. (2006). Going Girls; Hidden History of Women Who Give Up Children to Adoption in the Decade Before Roe v. Wade . New York: Penguin Press. ISBNÃ, 1-59420-094-7
• Kunzel, R. (1995). Fallen Woman, Girl Problem: Unmarried Mother and Social Work Professionalization, 1890-1945 (Yale History Series Publications) (Paperback). Ann Arbor, MA: Yale University Press (August 30, 1995) ISBN: 0-300-06509-4
• Mandell, B. (2007). "Adoption." New Politics , 11 (2), Winter 2007, All No. 42.
• Petrie, A. (1998). Go to Auntie's house: Remembering Canadian Houses for Unwanted Mothers . Toronto: * McLelland and Stewart. ISBNÃ, 0-7710-6971-5
• Moor, M. (2007). Silent Violence: Stolen Australian White Children . The thesis submitted in the fulfillment of requirements for Doctor of Philosophy in Arts, Media and Culture at Griffith University, Nathan, Qld. [1]
• O'Shaughnassy, ​​â € <â € Adoption, Social Work, and Social Theory . Brookfield: Ashgate Publishing. ISBNÃ, 1-85628-883-8
• Shawyer, J. (1979). Death due to Adoption. Cicada Press. ISBNÃ, 0-908599-02-1
• Solinger, R. (2000). Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race Before Roe v. Wade . New York: Routledge. ISBNÃ, 0-415-92676-9
• Solinger, R. (2001). Beggars and Voters: How The Politics of Choice Forms Adoption, Abortion And Welfare In The US. (Hill and Wang)
• Terranova, D. (2014). Baby Farm . Brisbane: Terranova Publications. ISBN 978-0-9941700-0-2. A novel about forced adoption in Australia in the 1970s.

Source of the article : Wikipedia