Dutch government apologizes for forced infant adoptions between 1956 and 1984
Dutch Cabinet officials on Thursday issued a formal apology to about 15,000 unmarried women who, after the 1956 Adoption Act, were subjected to strong pressure that led them to give up their newborn children for adoption. The apology also extended to the fathers and the children affected. The statement was delivered during a ceremony at theater Amare in The Hague, NU.nl reports.
State Secretary Claudia van Bruggen of Justice spoke on behalf of the government. She said, "It would have been better if the government had done more, had paid more attention to you.” She said the state instead “dropped the ball.” She added: “I hereby offer you, on behalf of the entire cabinet, our explicit apologies. This should never have happened.”
Health Minister Sophie Hermans attended the ceremony.
The apology follows findings from the report Schade door Schande, published last year by the Commission on Domestic Adoption and Separation. The report concluded that women who became pregnant outside marriage were often isolated. It also found they faced strong pressure from churches, families, the Child Protection Board, and care providers to give up their babies for adoption.
The report said these women experienced guilt, shame, broken family relationships, and long-term psychological harm. It also found that fathers, when identified, were largely excluded from the process. They were described as “invisible and sidelined.” The report said the effects “continue to this day.”
The report also described the historical context. The 1956 Adoption Act did not legally require women to give up their children. However, unmarried pregnancy was widely viewed as a disgrace and was wrongly associated with mental disorder. In practice, many women had no real alternative.
Among those present in The Hague was Renée de Bode, now 78. She was 19 when she gave birth. She gave up her son nearly 60 years ago after facing pressure to do so. She said she still experiences daily grief. “It is as if I lost a child,” she told NU.nl.
De Bode said the apology will help many affected people but said she would prefer an apology from the Child Protection Board itself. “Those are the people who were directly involved at the time,” she said. “But many of them are no longer alive.”
She also called for full access to historical adoption records. She said current access remains incomplete. “As a mother you want to know exactly how everything happened,” she said. “I know a little about how people thought back then, but it remains vague.”
Other groups also called for greater transparency. Stichting De Nederlandse Afstandsmoeder said each case involves two files. One concerns the mother’s circumstances, including background and medical information. The other documents how the adoption was arranged, including the discussions that took place.
Chairwoman Ellen Venhuizen, who also gave up a child after pressure at the time, said she does not have full access to her records. “We do not want any more redacted information,” she told NU.nl.
The organization also called for financial support for psychological care. It said nearly all affected mothers and children have needed counseling, often long-term and often at their own expense. Despite unresolved issues, the group welcomed the apology.
Frans Haven of Verleden in Zicht, an organization representing people who were adopted after being given up at birth, said: “The government is a bit late, but better late than never.”
His group and Stichting De Nederlandse Afstandsmoeder ran a campaign to publicize the apology ceremony. They said the government did not adequately inform those affected. The initial announcement was sent only through a newsletter with about 100 subscribers. In the end, 350 people attended the event in The Hague.
Haven said, “We are glad there is recognition of what happened to us. But these apologies are not a full stop but a comma. We want them to be followed by opening all archives, without restrictions.”
