Good Morning Britain hosts Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh were left visibly moved on Friday
GMB viewers were left feeling emotional(Image: ITV)
Good Morning Britain aired an emotional interview during the latest live programme.
Presenters Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway were back in the ITV studio on Friday (July 3), where they spoke to a woman who experienced forced adoption.
An estimated 185,000 babies were removed from mothers in the three decades following World War Two. Thousands of mothers faced pressure to give up their babies for adoption due to them being unmarried, including former Labour MP Ann Keen.
Moments before the interview with Ann, Kate said: “It’s absolutely heartbreaking. This happened to a friend of mine actually, and it’s devastating.”
Introducing the guest, Ranvir started by reading an extract from the government’s apology to the mothers, saying: “The shame was never yours, the shame is ours,” reports the Mirror.
Ann Keen shared her story(Image: ITV)
Ann then described the distressing circumstances that resulted in her losing her newborn son aged 17, saying: “How we were treated was like we were sinners. We had no rights or responsibility for anything.”
Ranvir observed: “Even during childbirth, you were in pain as you would be, but you were being told by the midwife that this is your punishment. They were tearing you, essentially, to get the baby out without any help, without any painkillers, as a punishment to you.”
Ann continued: “It’s unbelievable that happened in an NHS hospital… I was asking for some pain control and they said, ‘No, you’re not having any pain control because you don’t deserve any. You’re a bad girl.’
“I was being stitched without any anesthetic. When I moved, the doctor slapped my leg to say, ‘Don’t move! You shouldn’t be moving!'”
Both Kate and Ranvir were rendered speechless by this revelation, and appeared visibly moved as Ann went on: “You immediately then start to feel that you are in the wrong, because that was a constant feeling to you.”
“Oh my goodness,” Kate later exclaimed as Ann recalled the moment she was kept apart from her son, who was “waiting for his new mummy”.
Kate Garraway was visibly moved on air(Image: ITV)
The nurse subsequently grabbed Ann’s breast and declared: “You won’t be needing this milk. Let’s get rid of this now,” prompting Ranvir to respond: “It’s like an assault.” Kate moved to comfort Ann by reminding her that she hadn’t willingly given up her child, but had been “forced to”.
Ann has since been reunited with her son, Mark, who wasted no time in reassuring her that she had done nothing wrong.
GMB viewers were equally stunned upon hearing Ann’s harrowing ordeal, with scores of people expressing their outrage and distress across social media.
“What the hell am I hearing! ! This is barbaric! ! Dirty stain on the history of Britain this,” one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Another commented: “These poor women having their babies forcibly taken from them and being treated like scum,” while a third remarked: “What a heartbreaking story.”
A fourth viewer echoed these sentiments, stating: “Ann Keen’s story is horrific.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am
If you have been affected by historical forced adoption practices, FamilyConnect offers confidential support, including counselling, record tracing and help with reunification where appropriate, and can be reached on 0300 1800 205 or https://www.familyconnect.org.uk