Illegal adoptions to US mean many Americans will never know they came from Ireland

There exists a strong possibility that there are Irish adopted children, now adults, in the US,  who have no idea they are adopted from Ireland

The scandal broke earlier this week when it was reported by adoption agencies that at least 15,000 children very likely had their adopted parents named on the birth cert as the natural parents.

The church and adoption agencies at the time - in the 40s and 50s and 60s mainly - covered up the natural mother’s name in order to dispense with legalities, expedite the adoptions and sell the babies for thousands of dollars each they did in many cases.

Read More: 15,000 illegal adoptions in Ireland, mothers told babies had died

Given that thousands of the adopted children ended up in America it is perfectly plausible that children never knew they were originally from Ireland unless their parents told them, which was by no means the usual practice back then.

If they suspected and looked at the birth record it would tell them nothing because their adopted parents would be named.

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Read more: Tuam babies adopted in large numbers to US, says historian who broke the scandal

It is yet another story of abuse of helpless women in Ireland, in this case, pregnant out of wedlock women, back at a time when that was a more shameful deed than murdering someone.

Some years ago one of our reporters covering this story discovered she had a sister in Texas her family knew a thing about. The question is, how many more are out there?

Read More: Nuns told this Maine cop his Irish mother had died, he discovered the truth