Genealogy Chat

just come across this after being out of action for a week, hence no caps.
in 1961, it seemed some family doctors tried to get unwanted babies adopted by people with no children, maybe this went on in years before..
i moved district and when registering at new doctors ,as i had no children he asked me if i would like to adopt a baby, not yet born,from a good family, the daughters unwantrd pregnancy, i got up and left,
i thought this very bad.
wonder if mike had been promised to these parents.

Hi Carol,

Good to see you back on here, right first things first have you heard anything back from SS about the acutal court records yet ?, I still have my doubts about the abduction story.
The fact that the grandfather reg the birth, the day after he was born seems strange unless Hilda was ill or to embarrassed to do this, was Mike actually taken on the day he was born.
I would have thought Hilda would have tried to involve as few people as poss if she had anything to hide, did the court records hold any info at all ?, I would not approach any one till you know the full facts about this story, at the very least you would be telling Hilda's son, that she had abducted Mike, or you may even find your telling him Hilda had another son before she married (his brother) this would be my gut instinct.
In the past you mentioned about Mike adoptive parents being in their mid 40's when they had Mike (this would seem quite a common age for couple to adopt, also they had no other children although they had been married for 20 years, where as Hilda went on to marry and have more children, so she was fairly young then, still have this nagging suspicion that she was his natural birth mother, then this would just be a straight forward adoption case.
Maybe they said this to protect him, but if their story is right there must be prove somewhere, you say the hospital have no records their appears to be nothing in the paper if there is nothing in either his adoption record or court records, then I think this may just be story to protect him.

Let us know how things go, Good Luck!

Sheila

Updated

I've just found and read this amazing thread and I could have jumped in a few times but couldn't of course until now. Just one thing the dates of the birth and adoption certificate date doesn't tie up. Usual adoption procedure is that the Birth mother has 6 weeks to sign and the adoptive parents had to have had the child for 13 consecutive weeks before and an adoption order can be granted in the court. It could take up to a month to to entered on the Adopted Children Register. Has Michael got his adoption records yet? ... My best wishes to him. Cheers Gerry ps The couple who adopted my brother were 52 and 40 years of age.

I'm adding so I can find in the future, so interesting wonder what it will turn out to be!! Zo

Any more news on this?? Helen x

yes I am in Canada and I was telling a friend about this thread and we talked about all the possiblities as well.....LOL I still think it is a normal adoption and the mother just told a little white lie (she thought at the time) to try and explain to a little 9 year old boy. But I guess time will tell...:) Also we know some one that was raised in a family with a lot of older chidren and it turned out that her sister was her mother and her grandparents raised her. She finally found out with some odd things said and done in the family.

I've been thinking about this for the last couple of months and wondered how things were going too. I am sure that even though we are not directly involved we all feel that we are all family. Best wishes Julie

Wow! What a fabulous thread- I too am hooked! At first I thought it was straight forward adoption and that maybe the child had misinterpreted 'adoption from the hospital' for 'abduction from the hospital'- but now.........hmmm I'm not sure- please let us know soon! Best wishes with your search. Helen

Hi I came across this story a short time ago and everytime I am back on the site I see if something has devloped more...but I see with the dates that nothing much has been posted. If there is anything new let us all know. I would have thought some news would have been reported by now. thanks

Hi Carol, Just wondered how things where going and if you have received the marriage certificate yet. I have also sent you a private e-mail regarding the siblings from the marriage and some ideas. Best Wishes Sheila

carol, when i met my hubby, my daughter was years old. she not was my hubbys. hubby decided to adopt her, and we went through the process. the way the law stands is that, if one partner wants to adopt then the other even though biological must adopt as well, this seemed daft, as i was her natural mother. it's the way the law is?? suppose it's to make the parents feel the same. with a child adoption, it's normally carried out in the family court, and a record book is held in each court. good luck with your search, but i too would ask to see the file. lynnxx

I have since found a marriage for a Hilda Cook in the March quarter of 1947 in the right registration district to a Desmond York. Will need the marriage certificate to check fathers name. I have also found 4 children born between 1948 and 1957, same registration district, mothers maiden name correct.

Well, I still think this story is true, however, here is a Ruth Rendell style interpretation: Miss Cook gives birth to Michael. An adoption has already been arranged privately (through a Doctor/family member/whatever, thus explaining how the birth mother's name was known to his family) and the baby is immediately handed over. Later on, Miss Cook, suffering from Post Natal Depression, abducts ANOTHER baby and is sent to a Mental Institution. This may have speeded up the adoption process, i.e. natural mother has gone barmy, is not suitable to bring up her own child, even if she were to change her mind.I am sorry, but I really do not believe in a benign Social Services offering a birth mother the chance to change her mind in those days, even if it WAS the law - the Authorities always had ways around the law and always knew best. The amended story may have been told to Michael to subtly suggest, should he ever find out the truth, that his natural mother was less than she should be. On the other hand, Michael's adoption took place in early 1947, just after the end of the war. I would have thought that the Courts would have been extremely busy with Adoptions at this time and would have expected it to be later, rather than sooner. Let's hope Social Services don't take too long over this - did he explain the circumstances to them, it might fire their interest a bit. Olde Crone

Sheila, birthdate is 24th October 1946 and adoption 15th January 1947. Both dates on adoption certificate. I have rang social services and they are getting back to me if and when they can trace his records. Also, in 1946 his mother was 43 and his father 46. These days, this would be deemed too old to adopt a baby, but maybe things were different then. (Just after the war, loads of GI babies and maybe not enough adoptive parents to go round, particularly in the rural areas.) Parents lived in Paulton, so called abductor found in Clutton, adoption in Temple Cloud, all within a 5 mile radius.

Sorry to sound doubting but it seems a strange story your husband was told - although strange things happen. One of my friends is adopted and she is the spitting image of her adopted father - but they aren't related of course. Looks don't proove or disprove blood - none of my children look like their Dad. I wish your husband and yourself all the best in your search though. Jacquie P.S My Aunt met her apopted daughter's birth mother (in 1967) all family names in the adoption papers herld my the adoptive parents.

Hi Carol, His 'adoptive parents' would have known the details of his birth mother before the adoption. When you are formerly adopted, all parties are written to by the courts and the adoptive parents or birth mother wishes, she can attend the hearing (copies of all these notices should be in your adoption file). Also the agency that arranged the adoption would have given information regarding your birth etc to them, however, the amount of information that they where told could vary, when I was adopted 6 months after placement my adoptive parents were told of my birth mothers current position and what had happened to her in the meantime. It would be perfectly feasible that they knew the birth mothers name who she lived with when she gave birth, and the reason for the adoption. I just hope that they are able to trace his adoption records for him, but the earlier records seem to be more scant than todays, that said if he had been abducted from his natural parents then I am pretty certain that information would be there. When you say the adoption went through January 1947 how long after his birth was this? you say that his birth was registered in Dec 1946, normally before you could be formally adopted you had to be with the adoptive parents for 6 months, this was in part to allow the birth mother a chance to change her mind, and also to give social services and doctors a chance to eveluate your new parents. This was only 1-3 months maybe because the story was true, however, things may have been different then, I am talking about cases from the 60's onwards. The first thing you should do is contact Social Services, they will track down any court records that exist, they did this for me, although I doubt if you would be allowed to view these unless they are released either via the courts (as in my case , or released to a Social Worker, so I think this should be your next port of call. Good Luck Sheila

I do hope that Mike can obtain an answer and come to terms with the findings. I note that the abduction must have been very quick if he was registered the day after he was born.

Hi Carol I just wanted to say that my friend was adopted, in 1952, and her adoptive parents knew a lot about her birth parents. When my friend got her file it confirmed much of what she had already been told, so not all adoptions were as we thought, top secret. Good luck, I hope you get to the bottom of this very interesting story Sam

Hi Carol, As far as I know, his adoption records will be held by social services. If you ring your local SS office and ask for the Adoption/ Fostering Dept, they should be able to help you track down where the records are currently held, and obtain them for you. This is what I did in 2002. Good luck, Liz x