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Ireland examines its historic treatment of unwed mothers and their babies at homes funded by the government and often run by religious sisters. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic-bishops-in-ireland-apologize-for-abject-failure-at-mother-and-baby-homes-21109
In an era when unmarried pregnant women were treated harshly, and rarely supported by the babies' fathers, problems of overcrowding, underfunding and lack of trained personnel at group homes may have led to high death rates for their babies.
Religious orders running mother-and-baby homes in Ireland "were expected to intervene when the rest of society had basically banished these mothers and their unborn children and infants," Archbishop Martin of Armagh has said. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic-archbishop-church-must-do-reparation-but-dont-scapegoat-orders-over-mother-and-baby-homes-14703
At the same time, he sees "a moral obligation on us to participate in whatever way one can to help the survivors who for so long have carried this by themselves."
One thing I found shocking in the mother-and-baby homes report: Ireland did not have legal adoption until *1953*, due to lack of demand. Poverty and concerns about limited inheritance appear contributory factors, as well as other social taboos.
The United States by contrast seems to have had a stronger "adoption culture" as early as the Orphan Trains.
But our young country, rich in land and short on laborers, likely had a much different dynamic for children from irregular families. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Train
But our young country, rich in land and short on laborers, likely had a much different dynamic for children from irregular families. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Train
A good thread on family dynamics and the place of unwed mothers in Ireland and elsewhere: https://twitter.com/scary_biscuits/status/1349353677929259008
