Mothers pressured to give up their babies for adoption and people "stolen" from their mothers as newborns have joined forces to push for an inquiry into forced adoption practices in Western Australia.
Michelle Davies is speaking out with her story, urging the WA government to uncover the truth of what happened during the forced adoption era and to implement key measures that would help survivors heal from the ongoing trauma.
"You never get over it," the 94-year-old said.
Well over 150,000 babies were removed from their unwed mothers across Australia during a peak period from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Mrs Davies was working as a secretary at Royal Perth Hospital in the early 1950s when she fell pregnant to her long-term boyfriend who had convinced her to have sex, after asking her to marry him.
But, after she fell pregnant, the marriage fell through because his family did not approve.
"And to be a single mother was devastating to the whole family."
Sworn to secrecy, Mrs Davies recalls how she was pressured to have an abortion by members of her boyfriend's family, but she resisted.
"I couldn't do it. I knew it would be a backyard abortion," she said.
"I just wanted to protect the baby."
Michelle felt 'pressured' to give up child
She eventually sought refuge at Hillcrest Maternity Home in North Fremantle, run by the Salvation Army, mainly for unmarried mothers.
But, instead of being supported to keep her child, she said the staff tried to persuade her that she had committed a sin and pressured her to give up her baby for adoption. She again fought back.
When the infant – a boy – was delivered by emergency caesarean at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, she said she was not allowed to see him.
In the end, it was the demands of her own family that broke her.
"I decided I just love that baby so much, I'm going to keep it," she recalled.
"And so, I went home to my mother and my step father, and my step father took charge and he said 'no way can you disgrace the family' and he rushed me off to a solicitor, got me to sign papers.
Finally reunited after 25 years
Mrs Davies had to wait over two torturous decades before she was able to meet her son, Ian, in person and explain what had happened.
He had managed to trace her through a register that reconnects families.
"I went in and saw him sitting at the table and saw his face," she said.
"I looked at his face and it was like my face, it was really incredible.
"And then I started crying."
Calls for inquiry amid 'unfinished business'
Now, Mrs Davies is backing calls for WA to follow Victoria and hold an inquiry into the forced adoption era that would help to address the massive "dehumanising" toll on survivors.
The campaign is being led by adoptees, including Albany resident Jen McRae.
Ms McRae says WA was the first state to apologise for forced adoption practices in 2010 but since then has done nothing to restore basic human rights to survivors or uncover the truth of what happened.
"It's unfinished business," she said.
"Who were the powerful brokers of adoption during that period? What money was exchanged between hands?
"You can't have an apology and then nothing else after that."
Ms McRae says the WA Government has failed to implement key recommendations from a Senate inquiry report in 2012 that would remove the barriers facing adoptees now trying to reclaim their real identities.
Simple things like reverting to your original name, revoking your adoption orders or having your biological father's name recorded on your original birth certificate were all still onerous processes, she said.
Anne kept away from birth mother
Anne Haylock is one adoptee who has been struggling to get hold of records that would clarify what happened back in 1965 when her mother, Kathy, gave birth to her at King Edward at the age of just 17.
Mrs Haylock said she did not know she was adopted until the age of about 12 when she made a shocking discovery in her adoptive parents' bedroom.
She had long been plagued by a feeling that she was somehow different to the rest of the family and while rifling though papers in her parents' room, she found documents that confirmed her fears.
"I found letters that they had written to the child welfare department; I found my birth notice, which said I was their chosen daughter so that confirmed it," Mrs Haylock said.
"I can still remember the feeling of shock that I had a different name.
"And also the feeling of shock that my parents knew who my mother was [for] all those years and never told me."
It took Mrs Haylock until she was in her 20s to find her real mother.
Even now, at 57, she says there are still many unanswered questions about what happened at King Edward.
"They wouldn't allow her to see me," Mrs Haylock said.
"Every time, she asked to see me, they said no. They ended up giving her Largactil, an anti-psychotic medication, to stop her from asking questions.
"When she was discharged from hospital, she came back, claiming me and they kept saying 'no, don't be silly' and at the end of the first week, they said I had already been placed with an adoptive family, which actually wasn't true.
"I was still in the hospital."
'They won't give me my whole file'
Mrs Haylock wants an inquiry to be held while staff involved in forced adoptions are still alive, including the child welfare officer involved in her case who, she alleges, went to the Supreme Court to get the adoption signed off after failing to get the necessary approval from her mother's parents.
In particular, she wants to know whether her mother, like many others at the time, was given medication to suppress her breast milk, which has since been linked to breast and cervical cancers.
So far, Mrs Haylock's attempts to secure the paper trail of documents has proven incredibly frustrating.
She said Community Services Minister Simone McGurk had intervened to have her records released, but it appears that some documents are missing.
"They won't give me my whole file," she said.
"They'll only give me a summary of what is in the notes. I actually want to know everything that's in there.
"My whole identity was taken from me."
Call for proper apology from hospital
Jen McRae says making records easier for survivors to access is just one of the Senate report's recommendations that , ten years on, has still not been implemented.
She has also been calling on King Edward to formally apologise for its part in the forced adoption program.
She says that during the 1960s, the hospital had its own facility for unwed mothers called the Kensington annexe.
Until now, she has had little success and was "sickened" when, by chance, she noticed a statement on the hospital's website recently purporting to be an apology, which she said was "inadequate" and had the potential to be a "psychological trigger" for survivors.
She says the apology also breaches several recommendations from the Senate inquiry report.
"The hospital hasn't actually taken any responsibility for their involvement in forced adoption in any way," she said.
"So for them to call it an apology, is not truthful."
Hospital wants to work with adoptees
No-one from the hospital would be interviewed.
But, in a statement, King Edward's acting executive director, Diane Barr, said she was deeply sorry for any pain that may have been caused by the published apology.
The statement said Ms Barr had reached out to a community member who had previously expressed concerns and hoped to meet with her to identify ways of improving their communication processes.
"We are fully committed to working in partnership with the community to better apologise and we welcome their feedback regarding any other improvements to acknowledge the pain and suffering endured as a result of forced adoption practice."
For Anne Haylock, the existing apology on the hospital's website made her feel, again, that her voice was unheard and that her opinion did not count.
"That my lived experience and the lifelong pain they inflicted on me and my mother means nothing to them," she said.
"They haven't owned up to their part in it."
Despite having her own family – a supportive husband and fantastic kids – she has struggled throughout her life with depression, including suicidal thoughts when she was a teenager.
"It's disenfranchised grief, no-one really understands it," she said.
"You wouldn't want anyone to go through this; to have your identity removed and not be able to claim it back."
Community Services minister, Simone McGurk, declined to be interviewed for this story.
A state government spokesperson said support and counselling was available from the Forced Adoption Support Service run by Relationships WA.
The statement said that consideration was currently being given to the recommendations from a number of reports and inquiries relating to forced adoption.
"It is of utmost importance that people affected by these practices are supported and current and future policies and practices take into account what has been learned," the statement said.
