MP Karina Gould Speaks About Unmarried Mothers coerced into surrendering their babies for adoption.

By Gazette Staff

May 27th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

Burlington MP Karina Gould rose in the House of Commons yesterday to speak to a petition signed by more tha 600 Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, between 1945 and the 1970s, hundreds of thousands of unmarried mothers in Canada were coerced into surrendering their babies for adoption.

Karina Goud speaking in the House of Commons. Source Gazette photo bank.

This occurred under intense pressure from religious organizations, social workers and the medical community, particularly in maternity homes and hospitals.

I first learned about this shameful part of Canadian history from a 2018 Senate report, led by the Hon. Art Eggleton, entitled “The Shame is Ours”. I got to know the courageous Valerie Andrews, a survivor of this cruel practice and tireless advocate with Origins Canada for the mothers whose babies were taken from them. I read Heather Marshall’s profound book, Looking for Jane, which sheds light on the treatment of unwed mothers in Canada in the post-war years.

Australia, Wales, Scotland and Ireland all had similar practices and all have acknowledged the historic wrongs these women and their children were subjected to. These women, those who are still alive today, are elderly, and they deserve to know that what happened to them was wrong.

In the postwar years, over 300,000 unmarried young women had their babies forcibly removed after giving birth. In 2018, the Senate released the report “The Shame is Ours”, calling on the government to implement four recommendations to right these historic wrongs. These women and children, because of outdated adoption laws, have not been able to find each other and have not been able to get closure.

On behalf of the hundreds of these women in Canada still alive today, and their children, petitioners are calling upon the government to implement the recommendations of the Senate report and to make amends for this historic wrong.