Ms Rhoda Mac Manus:

Regarding the question on early care, I agree with Ms Harrison. I will give some of my personal story. I went back to school after my daughter was born. I remember how, when she was a few weeks old, I went back to the adoption agency and asked to see her at Temple Hill where she had been taken. The agency simply refused; it just said "No". At that age and in that situation, one just accepts what she is told to do as an obedient girl obeying the rules of society. Subsequently, letters that I wrote to the agency inquiring about how she was went unanswered. This continued for years and years.

Our solution to this problem, which is reflected in the Bill, is that mothers, because they were the only witnesses to what happened, should be allowed to read the whole file and write a statement, with the help of a social worker, to fill in the gaps, including how hard it was to make contact with them and find out how they were. As Ms Harrison and Ms Coughlan said, to simply know your child is alive is a fundamental thing, and even that was denied to us.

That is the nightmare we live until the time we can meet children again. Writing this statement would also remove another fear we have which is, in some cases, adopted people are looking for pieces of paper and bits of information to fill in missing gaps. For us, the search is about contact. It is about an emotional need to reunite with the child to whom we gave birth and about whom we have been wondering all our lives. Where is the child on his or her communion or confirmation? What is the child doing on his or her birthday? We live with this all of our lives and our fear is when we, eventually, it is hoped, get to meet the child again, this will lead to a relationship. However, the trouble is we have had no control over what was put into that file; what was written or said about us or even things such as whether cards we wrote were put into the file. The statement gives us a chance to reflect the reality; tell the truth; name the father, if he has not been named, and to paint our personalities, illustrate our need and, it is hoped, persuade that person to want to have a relationship with us. That is why this statement is so important.