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In 1965, when Veronica Smith was 24 and working as a nurse, she was pressured into giving up her daughter for adoption because she wasn’t married.

An estimated 185,000 women were forced to do the same between the 1950s and 1970s in England and Wales.

Now a report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights says they should receive an apology from the government. It says women were ‘shamed’ and ‘coerced’ into giving up their babies.

Veronica joined Anita Rani on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, alongside Harriet Harman MP, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, to discuss the ‘state of terror’ women were living in and to explain what it would mean to get an apology from the government.

A Government spokesperson said: "We have the deepest sympathy to all those affected by historic forced adoption. While we cannot undo the past, we have strengthened our legislation and practice to be built on empathy, from NHS maternity services caring for vulnerable women and babies, to our work transforming the adoption process and care system to help children settle into stable homes. There is help available for those affected by past adoption practises, including with tracing their birth children or parents."

Listen back to the full interview on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds by downloading the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour podcast from 15 July.

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