The women who are in prison and who have lost children to adoption have broken many of societies taboos. However, the majority of them have had awful childhoods in which they were poorly parented themselves, often experiencing emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Furthermore, they have often been in care where they were not always kept safe, as documented in some recently-reported media cases. Thus drugs and alcohol have often been used for \u2018self-medication\u2019 to blot out the painful memories and it is often this that leads to offences being committed. Again, in relative terms, women are often dealt with much more severely than men by the courts. Furthermore, their vulnerability means that they often end up with violent partners and a significant number of women lose their children to adoption because of their exposure to domestic violence.<\/p>\n
Pauline\u2019s work mainly involves supporting the women to enable them to participate fully in the exchange of annual letters with the adoptive parents, via the Letterbox provided by every local authority\u2019s Adoption service. This support is so important for the birth mothers\u2019 mental health and is greatly valued by everyone involved in Adoption, as it is also in the children\u2019s best interests to have as much information as possibly about their birth family.<\/p>\n
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