Motherhood Silenced - Wexford Launch

14th June 2005

The Health Service Executive South Eastern Area (HSE-SEA) is holding a regional launch for Motherhood Silenced- THE REFLECTIONS OF NATURAL MOTHERS ON ADOPTION REUNION. Dr. Mary Corcoran from the National university of Ireland and Maynooth, an eminent lecturer, researcher and commentator on social, political and women’s issues will launch the book. The launch takes place in The Heritage Centre, Ferrycarraig at 6.00 p.m. on Thursday 16th June.

The publication is a major piece of research undertaken by Ruth Kelly, Social Worker, specialising in adoption with the HSE-SEA based in Wexford. In Motherhood Silenced, Ruth Kelly records the stories of a group of natural mothers who have been reunited with the child they placed for adoption. Told through the mothers’ own accounts this revealing study examines the emotional experience of adoption and reunion and the impact it has had on the lives of these women.

Ruth says, “Until recently, it was thought and sometimes even expected that these mothers would forget about the child whom they had relinquished and that they would continue with their lives as if their child did not exist. It was presumed that they would never want to know what happened to their child, nor ever want to meet their child again. We now know that this is not what happens for mothers who place a child for adoption, in fact we know that they never forget their child and even if they are not in a position to be reunited, they always want to know how their child has fared in life.” Through the accounts in this book, the feelings, thoughts and emotions of mothers who have relinquished a child are given in their own words and with their own comments.

Mr. Seamus Moore, Regional Manager for Community Services stated, “the HSE South Eastern Area is delighted with the publication and was more than happy to support Ruth in undertaking this important research - the first of it’s kind in Ireland.”

- ENDS -

NOTES:

· Recent years have seen a marked increase in the number of enquiries for adoption information and tracing services. Last year the Adoption Board received over 2000 enquiries from people affected by adoption.

· 2005 saw the high-profile launch of the first State provided National Adoption Contact Preference Register, as part of the Adoption Board’s expanding Information and Tracing service. Launching the Register, Minister for Children Brian Lenihan TD, described this as a ‘time of real change in adoption.’

· It is now accepted that adoption goes beyond the legal life of the contract signed at the time of relinquishment. The State no longer views adoption as a single event and is actively facilitating contact between adopted people and their natural families.

Motherhood Silenced: The Experiences of Natural Mothers on Adoption Reunion by Ruth Kelly
€18.95; paperback; ISBN 1-904148-72-7, was published by The Liffey Press on 1 June 2005.

For further information please contact Audrey Lambourn, Communications Manager, 086 221 5826 or 056 7784100