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Stolen Babies - Broken Hearts: Forced Adoption in Australia, 1881-1987

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Stolen Babies - Broken Hearts: Forced Adoption in Australia, 1881-1987 School of Social Sciences and Psychology Stolen Babies - Broken Hearts: Forced Adoption in Australia, 1881-1987 Volume 2 Christine Anne Cole This thesis is presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Sydney June 2013 © Christine Cole CONTENTS Volume 2 Chapter 11 Mothers’ Voices Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Pregnancy ........................................................................................... 1 The Hospital Experience ................................................................... 6 Life Afterwards .................................................................................. 15 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 19 Chapter 12 Thematic Analysis Mothers Who ‘Kept’ .......................................................................... 22 Support versus No Support ............................................................... 22 Lay and Institutional Discourses ........................................................ 23 Protothemes: Mothers who ‘Kept’ ..................................................... 27 Microthemes ...................................................................................... 28 Protothemes: Mothers who had Their Infants Taken ......................... 28 Microthemes ...................................................................................... 29 Mothers’ Narratives Thematic Analysis – Part 1 Pregnancy ........................................................................................... 30 Denial ................................................................................................. 31 Powerlessness .................................................................................... 31 Isolation .............................................................................................. 31 Pregnancy Findings ............................................................................ 32 Mothers’ Narratives Thematic Analysis: Part 2 – The Hospital Experience Introduction ........................................................................................ 34 Authoritative Account Rejected ........................................................ 39 Life Afterwards Thematic Analysis Findings .................................... 41 Quantitative Method .......................................................................................... 44 Summary of the Quantitative Data ..................................................... 53 Findings from the BMNI Approach ............................................................. 54 Chapter 13 Conclusion Introduction ........................................................................... 57 Chapter Conclusions: Hypothesis supported v rejected ..................... 60 Hansard ............................................................................................................ 71 British Reports ....................................................................................................... 74 Annual Reports ...................................................................................................... 81 Inquiries and Royal Commissions .................................................................... 83 Newspaper Articles ............................................................................................... 88 Legal Cases ............................................................................................................ 103 English Legislation ............................................................................................... 104 Australian Legislation .......................................................................................... 105 New South Wales Legislation ........................................................................... 105 International Treaties ........................................................................................... 106 ii Reference List .................................................................................................. 108 Appendix Thematic Analysis of Historical Texts Key Theme: Social Control ................................................................ 205 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 209 Jenny Experience ................................................................................ 210 How do you go to work each day? ..................................................... 211 Questionnaire: Mothers who ‘Kept’ ................................................... 213 Questionnaire: Mothers who had their Infant Taken ........................ 217 Draft Questions: Midwives ................................................................ 223 Draft Questions: Medical Workers .................................................... 224 Draft Questions: Social Workers ........................................................ 225 The Apology Alliance Australia Women’s Activism ............................................................................. 226 Excerpts of ACT Apology .................................................................. 227 Prime Minister Gillard Forced Adoption Apology ............................ 231 ANF (Vic Branch) apology ................................................................ 233 The need for a DNA Bank .................................................................. 234 Response to Jeremy Sammut’s article ................................................ 235 Alison Xamon: Need for Specialist Services ..................................... 236 Need for Making Public Submissions from the NSW Inquiry into Past Adoption Practices (1998-2000) ............................. 238 John Robertson’s MP NSW Leader of the Opposition response to Christine Cole’s email ..................................................... 239 John Robertson’s Letter to Pru Goward ............................................. 240 Minister Pru Goward’s response ........................................................ 241 Letter: Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison ........................................ 242 iii Tables Table 1 Key Themes: Mothers Who ‘Kept’ .................................................... 26 Table 2 Key Themes: Mothers who had their Infant Taken ............................ 26 Table 3 Key Themes: Pregnancy ..................................................................... 32 Table 4 Key Themes Pregnancy: Emotion ...................................................... 33 Table 5 Key Themes Pregnancy: Psychological ............................................. 33 Table 6 Key Themes Hospital: Medical and Procedural ................................. 36 Table 7 Key Themes Hospital: Emotions ........................................................ 38 Table 8 Key Themes Hospital: Psychological ............................................... 38 Table 9 Key Themes: Life Afterwards ............................................................ 40 Table 10 Historical Text Thematic Analysis: Institutional Discourse .............. 194 iv Table 11 Historical Text Thematic Analysis: Lay Discourse ........................... 195 Graphs Graph 1 Pregnancy: Sense of Control in Decision Making ............................. 45 Graph 2 Level of Empowerment During Pregnancy ........................................ 46 Graph 3 Level of Control/Power in Hospital to Make Decision ...................... 47 Graph 4 Level of Control/Power Within the Hospital ..................................... 48 Graph 5 My Concern Versus Parents’ Concern (Stigma) ................................ 49 Graph 6 Lack of Money Reason I ‘Chose’ adoption ....................................... 51 Graph 7 Life Afterwards: ‘No Regrets’ as Opposed to ‘Life-long Regrets’ .... 52 Graph 8 Levels of Empowerment ................................................................... 53 v CHAPTER 11 Mothers’ Voices Introduction In this chapter, mothers who gave birth during the period 1953 – 1987, narrate their life journey, beginning with their pregnancy and proceeding towards the experience of either keeping or having their infant taken, and the effect that has had on their life afterwards. For some, it is a period of 50 years or more. As the mothers speak I identify and discuss some of the key themes. Reading their accounts may be painful: for many of the mothers I interviewed, retelling their story was no easy task. It brought to the fore extraordinarily traumatic memories, and many cried, as I cried with them. Painful though these accounts are this is a history that needs to be told, a part of our shared history as a nation that needs to be brought out of the darkness and into the light. Pregnancy Jane told her parents as soon as she knew she was pregnant and though initially shocked, they were accepting. Mary stated she went into denial, but then realised she had to begin preparation for the birth, so soon after told her parents who were supportive. Reanne’s mother when first told, thought adoption was the solution, but her father was supportive and drove her to all her ante-natal visits, saying, “I will stand by you, whatever you want”. Sherry’s mother was dead, but she had the support of her sister and her father. She believed her father was ‘super supportive’ because his parents had supported him and her mother when they conceived her out of wedlock. Jill, a Tasmanian mother
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