TV review – Love Child

Love Child

ITV1

9 and 16 January

11.15pm

Star Rating: 3/5

Screened in two parts, Love Child proclaims to tell the story of
adoption in Britain over the past 60 years. However, by the end of
part one it is clear that this is not the full history, but how
adoption was in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, writes Jonathan
Pearce.

Concentrating on unmarried mothers stigmatised by society, the
documentary provides a powerful reminder of the impossible and
heartbreaking situation in which many birth mothers found
themselves. As a rule their choices were either a back-street
abortion and all that entailed or running away to a mother and baby
home where many of them were manipulated unfairly into having their
children adopted by childless middle-class couples. Those who tried
to thwart the system were sometimes at risk of being
“sectioned”.

When adopted people were able to trace their birth families from
the mid-1970s onwards, the veil of secrecy around adoption was
lifted. The stories told by the participants of those searches and
reunion – successful or otherwise – are the glue that holds the
documentary together.

One cannot help but be deeply moved by the stories, and the long
reach of adoptions made many decades in the past can be clearly
felt in the present day. Although transracial adoption and issues
of race are dealt with only briefly and adoptive parents’ views are
not heard in detail, the documentary is an interesting overview of
adoption in another era. However, the trail goes cold in the
mid-1970s. There is no mention of the more difficult issues for
today’s children who are adopted from the care system or the
complex parenting issues facing adoptive parents since adoption
moved away from placing “relinquished” (however inaccurate that
term) babies. Without reference to the modern day context, such
documentaries do little to dispel the many myths around
adoption.

Jonathan Pearce is director of Adoption UK, a national charity
supporting prospective adopters, adoptive parents and long-term
foster carers Screened in two parts, Love Child proclaims to tell
the story of adoption in Britain over the past 60 years. However,
by the end of part one it is clear that this is not the full
history, but how adoption was in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s,
writes Jonathan Pearce.

Concentrating on unmarried mothers stigmatised by society, the
documentary provides a powerful reminder of the impossible and
heartbreaking situation in which many birth mothers found
themselves. As a rule their choices were either a back-street
abortion and all that entailed or running away to a mother and baby
home where many of them were manipulated unfairly into having their
children adopted by childless middle-class couples. Those who tried
to thwart the system were sometimes at risk of being
“sectioned”.

When adopted people were able to trace their birth families from
the mid-1970s onwards, the veil of secrecy around adoption was
lifted. The stories told by the participants of those searches and
reunion – successful or otherwise – are the glue that holds the
documentary together.

One cannot help but be deeply moved by the stories, and the long
reach of adoptions made many decades in the past can be clearly
felt in the present day. Although transracial adoption and issues
of race are dealt with only briefly and adoptive parents’ views are
not heard in detail, the documentary is an interesting overview of
adoption in another era. However, the trail goes cold in the
mid-1970s. There is no mention of the more difficult issues for
today’s children who are adopted from the care system or the
complex parenting issues facing adoptive parents since adoption
moved away from placing “relinquished” (however inaccurate that
term) babies. Without reference to the modern day context, such
documentaries do little to dispel the many myths around
adoption.

Jonathan Pearce is director of Adoption UK, a national
charity supporting prospective adopters, adoptive parents and
long-term foster carers.