FROM THE ARCHIVES:The plight of children whose parents weren't married was described in this editorial arguing for the introduction of legal adoptions.
THE LOT of the unwanted legitimate child is hard. That of the unwanted illegitimate child is vastly harder. The charge of infanticide is heard with monotonous regularity in our Irish Courts; but often, when a terrified mother shrinks from so dreadful a crime and consents to carry the stigma of her shame, her unwanted child almost has reason to regret that he had not been granted the mercy of a quick death. Little kindness is shown to illegitimate children in our smaller communities. Their correctly-born companions are taught to shun them; they are grudged, and commonly are denied, the rights of inheritance; they are pariahs.
In such circumstances, it is natural the mother should seek to find alternative upbringing for her offspring. As matters stand to-day, three courses are open to her. She may “farm out” the child – with the aid of a meagre subsidy from the State – to some family which is willing to bring him up. There are families which have discharged their duties towards their foster-children with honesty and affection, but there are too many, unhappily, that merely accept the responsibility for the sake of the annual remuneration of £30 or so, and make no effort to treat their charges on a level with their own children, or to encourage them to take a proper place in life. The second course that is open to the unmarried mother is to commit her child to an institution. There, at least, the child may receive a measure of kindness and sympathy – though the reputation of such establishments varies – but not even the best-managed and most conscientious institution, manifestly, can compensate for the lack of a family upbringing.
A third course is open to the mother – the father, it is needless to say, seldom comes into the picture. She may be put in touch with some decent, childless and frequently well-to-do family that is anxious to adopt the child and bring him, or her, up as its own. That is infinitely the best solution of the three. It is well known that there are many thousands of childless couples in Ireland who would gladly bring up such a child as their own, give him every advantage within their means, endow him with their name and social position, and leave him their money. There is, however, one dangerous possibility, which is sufficient to deter many potential adopters. In present circumstances in the Twenty-Six Counties, adoption is not legal. At any time the parent may return and claim her child, and the adopters have no redress; however careful a contract may may have been signed, sealed and delivered between them and the mother, it possesses no validity whatsoever in law. The possibility is not imaginary. It has happened too often that a mother has returned to claim her child when he has reached an age at which he is capable of earning money or otherwise becoming an asset.
The consequences are heart-breaking, both to the child himself, and to the foster-parents.
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