Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin has spoken publicly for the first time about her mother being forced to put a baby up for adoption, saying it was a secret she carried “to her grave”.
The MP for Runcorn and Helsby broke down in tears in the Commons as she spoke about the difficulty she faced in finding her brother.
She said her mother was pressured into giving up a baby for adoption in a process “handled by the church”.
The Prime Minister spoke of Ms Pochin’s “huge courage” in sharing her story.
It came as Sir Keir Starmer issued a formal apology for historic forced adoption of babies from unmarried mothers, which he branded a “stain on our history”.
It is believed an estimated 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976, though Sir Keir said he fears it “may be more than that”.
Addressing the Commons on Thursday, Ms Pochin said: “My own mother was pressurised into giving up a baby for adoption, and this was handled by the church. I only found out after her death – she carried her secret to her grave.
“When I found out, I tried to find my sibling, but drew a blank. I had to pay privately to find him, and we’ve now been united. Can the Prime Minister assure those affected that the new systems and resources will be given the funding they need to reunite families?”
Responding, Sir Keir thanked Ms Pochin for sharing her story, while she was comforted by DUP MP Jim Shannon.
The Prime Minister said: “She’s shown huge courage in saying that in the chamber today, and the way she described her mother taking the secret to her grave is very powerful and an example of the way in which some people simply feel they can’t talk about this and didn’t talk about this, and where they’ve passed will never now be able to talk about this, so she shows great courage in speaking on her mother’s behalf as well.
“I’m glad that there has been that reuniting, but it can’t be the painful journey that she’s just described. We have to do better than that, and we will.”
Labour MP Tracy Gilbert also held back tears as she spoke of her own experience of being adopted.
The MP for Edinburgh North and Leith said: “As an adopted person born in 1972, I welcome today’s statement from the Prime Minister. I have no idea if my birth mother felt forced to have me adopted. I do know that prior to the birth she was in a Church of Scotland mother and baby home.
“My adopted parents have since died, but I am sure they would not want to have adopted any child who had been forcibly removed from their mother.”
Sir Keir said it was hard to comprehend how difficult it must be to share her story in the chamber.
“I salute her courage and resilience, and all those that have spoken out,” he said.
“To have to speak out about something which is so intensely difficult, over and over again, is incredibly, incredibly demanding, but the comfort I hope is not only that because of that you have been seen and heard, but that others will have the courage to speak out about what happened to them, and I thank her in that regard as well.”
Sir Keir announced the Government is funding a national online resource to help people locate adoption records relevant to them.
He warned some information “may not be retrievable”.
Sir Keir said: “We’re working with all those affected and the families precisely on that issue, to make sure that all the relevant information is put together.
“It’s a difficult job because it’s held in different places in different ways.
“Therefore, I can’t stand here and pretend, ‘all the information’s available, we’ve simply got it into one place’.
“It is going to take a lot of work to get it all there and some of it may not be retrievable, but we’ll do everything we can to make sure it’s as complete as possible as quickly as possible.”
He made the comments in response to Olivia Blake, the Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, who said: “We know that families often end up paying huge amounts of money to try and locate other family members.
“Often, DNA is a way that people are reunited.”
Ms Blake suggested DNA could be a way to help people learn more about their circumstances if documents have been lost, redacted or withheld.