Forced adoptions, Belinda Carlisle, Harvest mice release
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2025
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has added his voice to calls for an apology for what he has called the state's role in the "terrible tragedy" of historic forced adoptions. Between 1949 and 1976, thousands of pregnant women and girls in the UK were sent away to "prison-like" homes run by the church and state and had their babies put up for adoption. In 2021, an inquiry concluded that the State bore ultimate responsibility for the suffering inflicted on vulnerable women and their children, calling on the government to issue an official apology. Anna Foster is joined by Diana Defries, chair of the Movement for Adoption Apology and Karen Constantine, author of Taken, experiences of forced adoption, to give their reaction to the intervention by the former PM and whether they will be granted an apology.
Belinda Carlisle started her musical career as Dottie Danger, a drummer in a punk band. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist with hits including Heaven Is a Place on Earth and Circle in the Sand. She joins Anna to discuss her new album, Once Upon a Time in California, which takes a deeply personal journey through the golden sounds of her youth.
What happens when a woman earns more than her partner, or is the sole earner in a household? For some couples, it’s a practical arrangement that works well. For others, it can bring unexpected tensions, challenging traditional ideas about gender, identity and power. Listener Karla emailed the programme to say that she wanted to talk about what it means to be a female breadwinner. She joined Anita in a replay of the item from Listener Week, along with Melissa Hogenboom, author of the book Breadwinners.
After learning about the threat to harvest mice in the UK, 13 year old friends Eva and Emily decided to breed 250 of them at home and release them into a local nature reserve - with the help of a crowdfunder and Chris Packham.
We think of the coal mining industry as dark, dirty and macho, but was there a place for women or even, beauty queens? Jennifer Jasmine White recently curated an exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum that looks at the women at the heart of coal mining industry and their creative contributions to those communities.
Presenter: Anna Foster Producer: Emma Pearce
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Rory Stewart and I grew up wanting to be a hero and I'm still fascinated by the ideas of heroism. |
| 0:09.0 | In my new series, I'm taking in the long sweep of history from Achilles to Zelensky and asking, what is a hero? |
| 0:16.0 | Simply doing your job, being a decent human being. |
| 0:20.0 | A true hero is someone who just kind of shines by |
| 0:23.1 | their own light and that light is to be recognised by others. The long history of heroism with me, |
| 0:28.6 | Rory Stewart. Listen on BBC Sounds. I'm Anna Foster and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:36.2 | Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been removed for this podcast. Good morning. I'm looking after things for Anita today. It is great to be with you on what is, well, it really feels like the end of summer this morning, doesn't it? Depending on where you are, the kids might be reluctantly getting ready to go back to school, or you might be dealing with the clouds and rain instead of those sunny, balmy days that we've had for the last few months. And of course, the end of summer means the return of Parliament from Monday. And the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a message for the current PM. He is joining calls from thousands of women who had their babies forcibly taken away and adopted. They say that the state should issue an apology to them following forced adoptions that took place across the UK until the 1970s. Some, in fact, say even later than that. We hear from two women who experienced it and are demanding |
| 1:29.0 | that apology in just a moment. Also, what have you achieved in your summer holidays? It's right. |
| 1:35.3 | Even just survival is a legitimate answer. I'll be joined, though, on the program this morning by |
| 1:39.7 | 13-year-old best friends, Eva and Emily, who have single-handedly released 250 under threat |
| 1:46.4 | harvest mice and they say it's been a much better use of their time than sitting on social media. |
| 1:51.8 | A bit of inspiration coming up for you this morning. Belinda Carlisle will be in the Women's Hour |
| 1:56.7 | studio this morning. The lead singer of the Go-goes is back with an album paying homage to her home |
| 2:02.1 | state of California. And as always, you can text the program this morning. Be great to hear from you. |
| 2:07.0 | The number is 84844. Text will be charged at your standard message rate. On social media, we're at |
| 2:13.7 | BBC Woman's Hour and you can email us as well through the website, or if you like, |
| 2:18.2 | you can send a WhatsApp message at the number to do that. |
| 2:21.1 | 0300, 100444, and data charges may apply depending on your provider. |
| 2:28.3 | So you might want to use Wi-Fi if you can save a bit of money, and you can find the terms |
| 2:31.7 | and conditions on our website. |
| 2:34.0 | And also, |
| 2:34.7 | before 11 o'clock this morning, we will hear about the coal queens being celebrated at an |
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