Does anyone know when the Baby Scoop Era ended and why then?

Question

I have heard the Baby Scoop Era (BSE) described as the time in the 50's, 60's, and 70's when many single, pregnant women were forced by their families to give up their children to adoption. Often they were hidden in their homes or sent to maternity homes. Fathers of some of the adopted children were also victimized by a culture intolert of pre-marital pregnancy - many wanted to marry their children's mothers but they were forbidden to see them.

So, I have 2 questions. I have read in some places that the BSE ended in the 70's and others say that the BSE went into the early 80's. Which is it? And why the demise in that decade - why not earlier or later?

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Hi Grapesgum,

The "baby scoop era" is a disgraceful dark era in U.S. adoption history, marked by shame, lies, secrecy,  inhumane & unethical practices all covered up by totally closed adoptions & sealed records.  Young pregnant women, mostly white, middle to upper class, were sent away to maternity homes and given no other choice except to relinquish their babies to adoption.  They were not allowed to communicate with the fathers or with anyone else.  It was bad for the mothers, it was bad for the children.  The babies were snatched away from them at birth often before they were able to even see them.  Those who were involved in baby scoop era adoptions are affected in some ways still today.

The mid to late 1970's marked the first changes in the way adoption had been practiced for several decades prior to that. I'm not sure there's an exact year that everything changed, but more of a gradual shift in attitudes and laws that occured in that era which led to the decrease of available healthy, white infants. This drop in available babies occurred for several reasons:

1) More reliable birth control, such as the pill, became more readily accessible even for single people which prevented many accidental pregnancies.

2) Abortion became legal which gave women reproductive freedom in case of failure of birth control method.

3) Single parenthood became more acceptable for woman experiencing unplanned pregnancies. Before that time, there had been a terrible social stigma attached to raising a baby if you were not married.

Without the supply of newborn babies, the adoption demand skyrocketed! That shifted the bargaining power somewhat to the mothers who were considering adoption. Nobody wanted to choose the old ways of baby scoop era adoption, but they would consider adoption with some changes. Mothers began to demand some say in the futures of their babies in exchange for relinquishing parental rights.

Adoption agencies were then forced to adjust the way they had been conducting business in order to secure a supply of babies to meet the increasing demand. Agencies had to make these changes or women simply would not choose adoption, and they would be out of business.

A new concept called open adoption was common by the 1980's. Mothers did not want to blindly hand over their babies never to be seen again anymore. They were now selecting the homes where their children would be placed. They wanted to stay involved in their child's life to various degrees ranging from photos or letters exchanged to phone calls & visits.

That is the approximate time those changes occured and for the main reasons.  Hope that helps answer your questions.

julie j

reunited adoptee

Answer 2

The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler encapsules this era very accurately.

Answer 3

I think the "official" end was in the early 1970s, when abortion was legalized by the Roe v. Wade court decision.

But, I've heard that the practice of "sending girls away" and forcing them to place (family pressure) continued past that -- into the 80s when the stigma of single-motherhood became less -- and probably still continues to some degree today.

Answer 4

my mom was sent to a wage home in 1969. she and a woman who later turned out to be her best friend, were encouraged to place their babies. my mom did not, but her friend did. according to my mom, a lot of the girls were sent there by parents from the suburbs of cleveland, ohio( shaker hts, solon, beechwood, avon lake); and were not allowed to go home until after they relinquished. hence, got rid of the problem. the "home" closed in 1985.

so i'm not sure.  i think it does correspond with the roe v wade decision, access to bc and acceptance of single-parenting; yet, i do think quite a bit of the practice currently goes on...