The Skewer’s Jon Holmes is writing and presenting his first File on Four documentary for BBC Radio 4 on the scandal of forced adoption.
It started out as the story of Jon trying to trace his birth parents after a home DNA showed he was of Irish heritage, which he didn’t know.
It’s estimated that between 1949 and 1976, around 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were put up for adoption in England and Wales, many of these by force.
Always knowning that he was adopted, Jon was never very interested in searching for his birth parents, until now.
Jon says: “This programme began life as one story but, as I became angrier and more saddened at what I uncovered, it also became about the often-harrowing treatment of mothers and babies who were forcibly separated from each other at birth, while society looked on.”
Investigating his own story, secrets of Jon’s past are revealed. As he slowly finds out more about his own past, he also investigates the impact of this era and asks where does responsibility for this societal culture lie and can it ever be repaired?
File on Four: Jon Holmes, Generation Shame can be heard on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 8th August at 8pm and Sunday 13th August at 5pm.