A shot take of Crittenton General Hospital in 1965 shows future adoptees in the care of nurses. Note, the cut line information has some inaccuracies from the source (photo courtesy of Patricia Ibbotson’s Detroit’s Hospitals, Healers, and Helpers, and the collection from the Detroit Public Library).
It is Christmas Day, December 25, 2024. The day, as most of us know, celebrates the birth of Jesus, who Christians say is the “son of God.”
I’m listening to Christmas carols, celebrating the “messiah’s” birth in a manger. The words praise the holy mother and child.
For me, I cannot help but think of vulnerable mothers and their babies, who in the United States have experienced the “miracle” of a child’s birth far differently from the joyful moments I was raised to celebrate growing up as the adopted son of a failed minister and a very devout Christian mom, who eventually raised me as a single parent.
Those vulnerable young moms, unlike the “blessed virgin Mary,” were coerced for decades to surrender their newborn infants to the U.S. adoption system.
I’m just one small statistical blip among millions of us who lost our families shortly after birth to feed a system of family separation that needs to be massively reformed.
So, today, I honor those mothers and children, whose stories are hidden, from my birthplace, Detroit’s now long-demolished Crittenton General Hospital, one of the largest maternity hospitals ever in the United Stated that saw thousands of infants separated from their mothers shortly after birth.
For all of you, and your families, I wish you the spirit of the holidays. May you find grace and acceptance.
Know that your stories and your denied justice are remembered and will never be forgotten by those of us who know the true history of our births.