Stolen Babies is a landmark feature documentary that uncovers Britain’s forced adoption scandal. Between 1949 and 1976, more than 250,000 unmarried mothers across the UK had their babies forcibly taken for adoption by the state. In July 2026, the government accepted responsibility for the historic actions and apologised to those affected.
Across 90 minutes, Stolen Babies reveals the state-built and state-funded structures that enabled this practice to take place across the country, shining a light on one of the most significant human rights injustices of our time.
Told through powerful first-hand testimony from women in Scotland, England and Wales, Stolen Babies centres on the experiences of five mothers whose stories form the spine of the film. Their testimonies are woven together with those of adoptees, witnesses who worked within the system - including a social worker and a student nurse - and the investigators whose tireless work helped expose the truth decades later.
