Mothers Drugged to Obtain Relinquishments

Background

Twenty years ago, before Facebook and other social media, the Internet was a-buzz with email groups of common interest; naturally, adoption-related groups flourished. On one of those groups, I learned of the horrendous practice of drugging mothers to obtain the relinquishment of their babies for adoption. I was mortified. The account of one of the mothers rattled me beyond words. Nancy Safsten and I began corresponding privately, and as her story unfolded, I learned that the individuals, the adoption agency, and the hospital involved all had come away virtually unscathed. Even in light of an obvious conspiracy. Even after a lawsuit that exposed their nasty deeds.

I put out a call on my email group for accounts by any other mothers who had been incapacitated by drugs at the time they signed relinquishment papers. Here is one response:

"Your request for information from birthmothers who were drugged has been forwarded to me. I recently received my medical records and discovered that from the time my son was born until I signed papers, I was given Ritalin, used as an anti-depressant in the 60's. Before I signed the papers, still in the hospital, I was given codeine. Although not as dramatic as the drugs you mentioned, my mental state was clearly being manipulated without my knowledge. This was an agency adoption. The doctor did not work for the agency, but was an adoptive father with strong ties to the agency. This was never disclosed to me, I came about this knowledge by accident."

Linda (last name withheld)

I asked Linda two follow-up questions, which she answered:

>1. What was the name and location of the agency? (It may not even be one that I'm targeting for my purposes, but in case it is.....) 

The Cradle Society in Evanston, Illinois. Not a large agency so I doubt that they are who you are looking for.

>2. What were the exact amounts and frequency of administration of each drug used, according to your records? 

According to my medical records I was being administered 10 mg. of Ritalin twice a day (10:00 am and 4:00 pm) from the morning of April 29th (my son was born just before midnight on April 28th) to the morning of May 4 (the day I signed papers..around noon?...and was released from the hospital.) At 9:40 am on May 4 I was also administered codeine.

So the timeline:

April 28th, just before midnight - Linda's baby is born

April 29th, 30th, May 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 10 mg. of Ritalin at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

May 4th - 9:40 a.m. - codeine (dosage not known)

            10:00 a.m. - Ritalin

            Approximately noon - Linda is given relinquishment document to sign

            Released from the hospital.

Another Response to my Query - This One From the Lion's Den

I've concealed the name of this respondent, but as you'll see from a separate email, she gave me permission to publish her account. (Copied and pasted from original.)

Here's the follow-up - Screen capture of original email:

Conclusions

1. If an agency has to drug a mother to obtain her signature on a Termination of Parental Rights (TPR), it is not a 'volunteer surrender.'
2. A mother who discovers, after the fact, that her TPR was signed while she was under the influence of mind-altering drugs apparently has no recourse. Her child is still missing from her life and in most cases the statute of limitations has run out on any possible legal action.
3. As far as I can tell, states that allow TPRs to be signed while the mother is still in the hospital is under no obligation, by law, to withhold possibly mind-altering meds from her for at least 12 hours prior to the signing. 

So the Door is Still Open to Fraud

Mothers Diagnosed Psychotic Until TPR Signed

Nurse Recalls Court and Physician Collaboration

Introduction

On Sunday, October 5, 1997, in an online forum called Adoptlist, the following posting was submitted by Elizabeth O. (surname withheld), a member with experience in the treatment of "unwed mothers" in the 1960s. 

Trained to be Indifferent

"I thought it might help those who weren't teenagers or adults in the 60's to know a little of what unwed motherhood meant in those days. We all owe it to ourselves to know the past so we don't make the same mistakes in the present. I always like to say, we can't know where we are going if we don't know where we've been.

"My nursing school dorms were near Ingleside Maternity Home in Buffalo, NY. In the 60's a pregnant, unwed middle class woman did not live at home. What would the neighbors say? The unwed mothers from Ingleside went to the same little shops we did. They'd be there with their fake wedding bands and swollen bellies, and we'd talk about them behind their backs. We never wanted anyone to think we were from Ingleside. We'd walk to the other side of the street if we had to just so no one would mistaken us for being one of them. We were damn right smug little, better than thou college students. Never mind that a few in our class had already relinquished (not known til years later), never mind that over the next few years a few others would have their turns at being pregnant and unwed. The code was in place, silence was the way it was. If you'd been in a home you never said a word. If you had a child out there somewhere only you knew, not your classmates. Secrecy reigned supreme. 

"And on our OB rotation we went to the Salvation Army's maternity home in Buffalo. We were told, and we didn't question it, to not become friends with the women there. We could not even know their 1st names . Here they were girls just like us, we could have become friends but they needed to know they'd sinned and they'd have to pay the price. Of course there were others who'd also sinned, they just didn't get caught. So we performed our clinical duties and skills , leaving our humanity in limbo."

The Conspiracy and its Implementation

"An unwed mother who wouldn't sign relinquishment papers would be adjudicated psychotic by the court, being committed to a mental institution, and have her parental rights involuntarily terminated. I saw this happen on several occasions during my OB rotation. An unwed mother wouldn't sign, her OB doctor, a male 98% of the time, would call another OB doctor, also a male, and the 2nd OB would nod and say "yes, psychotic", then the psychiatrist would be called, he would confirm the OBs' assessment and the mother was removed from the OB ward and taken to the psy lock up unit. Usually after a short stay there relinquishment papers got signed. And then, voila, no more psychosis so the patient was discharged. 

"This is how it was. It was wrong to treat people the way unwed mothers were treated. It makes me sick and ashamed when I think of how I treated the unwed mothers I knew or had contact with. If you weren't a teen and young adult in the 50's and 60's then you simply *cannot* know what it was like. You cannot take the standards and experiences of the 90's and apply them to that time and place. It's grossly unfair to do so. Read "Wake Up Little Suzie" by Rickie Solinger."