When Jill Martin was growing up, she always had a niggling feeling of not belonging.
She had always known she had been but her birth parents remained a mystery, leading her to wonder where her crooked nose and artistic flair really came from.
It took her almost 60 years before she discovered she had been involved in one of the most shocking scandals in British history – and was part of a forced adoption.
At just two weeks old, she was , who was unmarried, and ‘sold’ to her adoptive parents – who paid 12 shillings, or 60p.
Despite having a happy childhood, Jill, 74, has spent a lifetime trying to track down her birth parents – and sadly, only tracked them down in 2011, two years after her birth mother had passed away.
Now, she is part of a group of campaigners who are planning to sue the Government to force to issue a former apology to the thousands of wronged families.
More than 200,000 unmarried mothers were after being sent to mother and baby homes, often run by private adoption agencies or religious organisations between 1950 and 1985.
A public inquiry into the scandal in 2021 ruled that the Government bore responsibility for what happened, and although the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales have issued a formal apology to victims, the UK Government refuses to do so.
But now, hundreds of families – many of whom have been left with multi-generational trauma – have instructed a law firm to take legal action to force an apology.
Many of the unmarried women who had their newborn babies taken from them have now died without ever hearing an apology, as well as countless others being unable to access their adoption and medical records.
Jill, a cook, from Deal, Kent, said: “I think the Government must be hoping we are all going to die out before they have to apologise.
“It’s the biggest scandal of our time. What happened was brutal, cruel and barbaric, and they should feel terrible about it.”;
Jill’s mother, Mary, was coerced into giving her up for adoption because she wasn’t married to her father – even though the pair were waiting to wed while Mary finalised her divorce from a previous partner.
Jill was given to a couple who were unable to have children, shockingly without Mary having signed the adoption papers.
She was stunned to learn that just months after she was adopted, her biological parents did go on to marry, and later had two other children.
She said: “I was very lucky, because my adoptive parents were loving, kind people, who gave me a wonderful childhood.
I don’t blame either my biological or adopted parents for what happened – I blame the Government for allowing it to happen
Jill Martin
“Not all adoptees were so fortunate.
“They always told me I was adopted, but I didn’t know my mother had been forced to give me up.
“I thought I wasn’t wanted, and that has a big impact on your life.
“I always had a feeling of being displaced and not really knowing who I was, though.”
Emotional reunion
When Jill’s adoptive parents sadly passed away when she was 24, she was left with no information about her birth parents.
But she realised she may have been part of a forced adoption after seeing a documentary about the scandal on TV.
She spent decades battling to track down her paperwork, and her real parents, before finding a phone number for a man she believed to be her dad in 2011.
“I plucked up the courage to call, and explained I thought he might be my father,”; Jill recalled.
“He said: “I always knew this day would come. I want you to know you have always been welcome in our home.
“I drove to meet him, and I felt apprehensive. But as soon as I saw him, I immediately went in for a hug. It’s a strange feeling, but everything about it just felt right.
“Instantly, I noticed his crooked nose, and how much it looked like mine – it felt like the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.”;
Tragic twist
Cruelly, Jill’s birth mother, Mary, had passed away in 2009.
Her biological sister had also sadly died when she was in her 30s.
Her father Luke, then aged 86, told her how they had fought in court when the adoption was eventually finalised, weeks later, to try to take Jill home with them.
“He said that my adoptive mother and my birth mother had actually met in a corridor outside the court,”; Jill recalls.
“He said they were both absolutely distraught that they would lose ‘their’ baby, and ultimately, he and mum ended up leaving without me because she was classed as an ‘unsuitable’ mother, because she was unwed.
I was robbed of the family life I should have had – I never knew my mother or sister
Jill Martin
“It was truly barbaric. I have three children of my own and I cannot even contemplate the thought of one of them being taken away from me because I wasn’t married.
“Sadly, dad died just five years after we reconnected. I’m glad we finally got to meet and I was with him until the very end.
“But I’m furious that both my parents died without ever hearing someone say ‘we’re sorry’ for everything they went through.
“An inquiry has found that the Government was responsible for allowing these horrific practices to go on, and they need to give us all some closure.
” I often wonder what life would have been like if I’d been allowed to stay with them.
“We shouldn’t have to still be fighting this – we’ve been through enough already.”;
‘An apology is essential'
Diana Defries, 70, from the Movement for an Adoption Apology, who was also forced to give up her baby when she gave birth at 16 in 1974, said: “An apology is essential – the shame must change sides.
” It would mean the world to me for someone to say ‘you were wronged.'
“We need the Government to acknowledge what we went through and that it was wrong.”
Matthew Jury, managing partner of law firm McCue, Jury and Partners, acting on behalf of the Movement for an Adoption Apology, said: “Forced adoption is a scandal and a national embarrassment that we, as a country, have failed to address and which our government continues to ignore.
“We will be exploring every possible option for its victims to secure accountability, just compensation, and closure after all these years.”;
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This abhorrent practice should never have taken place, and our deepest sympathies are with all those affected.
“We take this issue extremely seriously and continue to engage with those impacted to provide support and consider what more can be done.”;
