In order to understand how a situation like the one of the afstandsmoeders in the Netherlands was possible, it is important to understand what the country looked like in those days. Dr. Nelleke Bakker is an Associate Professor of History of Education at the University of Groningen and she will explain in this episode, what made the society tick, which institutions had the strongest influence, how the role of women was seen within the society and wether giving up their babies was the only option for afstandsmoeders.

Sources: - Nelleke Bakker, In the interests of the child: psychiatry, adoption, and the emancipation of the single mother and her child - the case of the Netherlands (1945-1970), Paedagogica Historica 55 (2019:1), 121-136
N. van den Boomen et al., Beklemd in de scharnieren van de tijd. Beleid, praktijk en ervaringen van afstand ter adoptie door niet-gehuwde moeders in Nederland tussen 1956 en 1984 (Nijmegen: WODC/Radboud Universiteit, 2017)

Produced by Sarah Tekath in collaboration with Broadcast Amsterdam
More information: https://broadcastamsterdam.nl/shows/separated-by-force/

© Sarah Tekath/Broadcast Amsterdam