Forced adoption compensation claims

McCue Jury & Partners are specialist solicitors representing birth mothers affected by the UK forced adoption scandal

McCue Jury & Partners represents mothers in England & Wales who had their children taken from them as part of the forced adoption scandal, which spanned decades and marks a shameful and abhorrent part of modern British history. McCue Jury’s clients are seeking justice and compensation for survivors.

We are investigating legal claims against the Church of England, the Catholic Church, and Local Authorities for their alleged role in operating, managing, or overseeing mother and baby homes and adoption practices, in which unmarried women were pressured or coerced into surrendering their babies for adoption.

If you believe you were forced, pressured or coerced into giving up your baby for adoption, our specialist solicitors can provide confidential legal advice on whether you may be eligible to bring a compensation claim. We would like to hear from anyone affected by this scandal, whether you were a mother, an adoptee or a witness to these practices.

Between the late 1940s and the 1980s, thousands of unmarried women across England and Wales were sent to mother-and-baby homes and other institutions to give birth in secret. Many faced intense pressure, shame and coercion to give up their babies for adoption.

An inquiry into more than 200 mother-and-baby homes estimated that around 185,000 children born to unmarried mothers were adopted during this period. The inquiry documented widespread secrecy, stigma and coercive practices, and found that some babies were treated as commodities to meet demand for adoption.

For many birth mothers, their children, and their families, the consequences have lasted a lifetime.

The trauma of children being separated from their birth mothers has resulted in profound emotional suffering, psychiatric injury and the loss of family relationships that can never be restored.

We believe that institutions involved in facilitating forced adoption acted unlawfully and that those affected are entitled to seek accountability and compensation for the profound and lifelong harm they have suffered.

On 2 July 2026, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a formal apology to those affected, acknowledging the injustice endured by thousands of women and families.

While that apology is an important recognition of the harm caused, it does not come close to providing just reparation for what the victims have endured.

If you have been affected by historic forced adoption practices in England or Wales and would like to discuss a potential claim, please contact McCue Jury & Partners at forcedadoptionclaim@mccue-law.com.

Our team of specialist solicitors is committed to securing justice and compensation for survivors.

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