ITV News Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker explores one of Britain’s darkest social injustices and the lifelong consequences of forced adoptions in the UK
An ITV investigation has found chilling evidence that unmarried mothers in England fear they were given a dangerous drug now linked to cancers and other serious conditions while in state institutions in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
Diethylstilbestrol, commonly known as DES, was a synthetic hormone prescribed to dry up breast milk and recommended for use in mother and baby homes in England for decades.
In the 40 years after World War Two, an estimated 200,000 unmarried mothers gave birth in these institutions run by the church or state and were pressured to put their babies up for adoption.
ITV’s Tonight programme broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX at 8.30pm on February 20, titled ‘Forced Adoption: Britain's Silent Scandal’ explores one of Britain’s darkest social injustices and the lifelong consequences.
A bottle containing tablets of the drug diethylstilbestrol.Credit: Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum / ITV Tonight
A bulletin published by the Moral Welfare Workers' Association in 1964, a body representing social workers at the time, shows that mother and baby homes were recommended to prescribe DES to dry up breast milk.
The drug was prescribed to women across the world, not just to dry up breast milk but also to treat several issues including preventing miscarriages. That was until it was widely withdrawn in the 1970s due to its links to cancer.
The legacy of this so-called ‘wonder drug’ is far reaching. Around the world there have been hundreds of court cases as well as government apologies and compensation payments to those exposed to it.
Yet in UK, the true extent of the harm caused and the numbers exposed to DES is still unknown partly due to a lack of medical records. It’s been described by some doctors as ‘the silent thalidomide.’
Dr Wael Agur, a Consultant Urogynaecologist and advisor to the Scottish Government, has treated women who were exposed to the drug.
“The most serious risk is the cancer risk,” he told ITV Tonight. "This drug increases the risk of breast cancer in the women who took it.
"People call it the hidden thalidomide, because it is there, we know it is there, but we don't know what is the size of the problem."
Dr Agur wants a full inquiry to ascertain how many women have been exposed to the drug.
Consultant Urogynaecologist and advisor to the Scottish Government Dr Wael Agur has treated women who were exposed to the drug. Credit: ITV Tonight
Academics who have studied the drug estimate anywhere between 10,000 to 300,000 women came into contact with DES in the UK, although many patients were never told they’d been prescribed it.
Women like Diana Defries still to this day have no idea what they were given, but suspect it could have been DES, or an equivalent drug. They may never know the truth.
As a 16-year-old, pregnant and unmarried, she was sent to a home in Southampton in 1974. She recalls her breast milk drying up after having an injection in the hospital.
“I have tried to find out what that drug was. I've approached the hospital, I've tried NHS records, but so far I’ve drawn a blank,” Ms Defries, who is now 67, said.
Diana Defries says she has no idea what drug she was given as a teenager at a mother and baby home in Southampton in 1974
She’s been told there are no medical records available for her before 1997.
In the years after that injection, she developed an unusual condition with her breasts, that at times has left her in severe pain, which she believes may be connected to the drug.
“It was so bad they offered me surgery," she said. "The impact of that drug has been significant on my health."
ITV Tonight has spoken to former nurses who remember DES being administered throughout the 1970s, and several women who suspect they were given the medication in mother and baby homes, and hospitals, across the country.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the UK’s medical watchdog, has admitted there are no proper records to trace who was given this drug.
Dr Michael Lambert, from Lancaster University, has spent a decade examining these institutions and spoke to Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker
The hormone was developed in Britain in the 1930s by scientist Edward Charles Dodds.
In the decades that followed there were repeated warnings about the safety of DES flagged at the highest level of the health service, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that it was withdrawn from use after a US scientist proved it was carcinogenic.
In 1967, a letter written to the then Chief Medical Officer from the Welsh National School of Medicine, warned about risks of blood clots associated with the drug.
These concerns were discussed for years but no clear steps were taken to address this before it was eventually phased out in in the 1970s due to its links to cancer.
Alongside its use in mother and baby homes, the hormone was also used in the agricultural sector.
There was government acknowledgement, in both the House of Commons and House of Lords in the late 1950s, that the effects of the use of DES could be ‘seriously toxic’ when ingested or inhaled by humans in even the smallest amount, yet it was still used for years as a lactation suppressant.
In 1959, an MP in the Commons warned about the risk of exposure to farmer workers who were using it to fatten livestock.
Then in 1961 in the House of Lords, Lord Douglas of Barlock was concerned that diethylstilbestrol used in farming could get into the food chain, stating ‘it has been authoritatively stated that it may have something to do with causing cancer or leukemia.’
The same concern wasn't shown for women in mother and baby homes. The drug was still used in the UK for years after these stark warnings.
The UK government has never issued a formal apology to those impacted by the forced adoption scandal, despite the devolved nations and countries around the world offering recognition for the role their governments played in the practice for decades.
Adoptees and mothers alike are calling for an apology, and for some now in their 70s and 80s time is truly running out.
Ms Defries, who is one of the leaders of the campaign group Movement for an Adoption Apology (MAA), has been working tirelessly for years to push the government to accept responsibility.
“I will fight for some measure of justice, but there are people who can no longer do that and we're very conscious that people are dying,” she added.
Vik Fielder, who was adopted at just one-week-old, fears the lasting impact of forced adoptions on those separated from their birth families is often forgotten
In 2021, an inquiry by the Joint Committee of Human Rights 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. Those affected are still waiting.
When asked why an apology had not been forthcoming from Westminster, the Education Secretary Bridget Philipson told ITV News that the practice was "utterly shocking" and her department was "looking very carefully at next steps, and we do hope to be able say more soon to respond precisely to the question around what that means for redress.”
In response to our programme the Church of England said: “We are deeply saddened to hear these painful and distressing accounts of women and families who have been affected by mother and baby homes, including those with connections to the Church of England.
"To those who have suffered, we once again offer our heartfelt sorrow and regret.
"While such decisions may have been considered appropriate by many at the time, society now recognises the profound and lasting impact they have had on so many lives.
"We are committed to learning from their experiences and invite anyone who feels they have been harmed or affected by their time in any CofE affiliated homes to come forward.”
In 2016 the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales apologised "for the hurt caused by agencies acting in the name of the Catholic Church".
Cardinal Vincent Nichols acknowledged "the grief and pain caused by the giving-up of a child through adoption", and added: "The practices of all adoption agencies reflected the social values at that time".
Watch ITV Tonight - Forced Adoption: Britain's Silent Scandal on Thursday February 20, at 8.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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