THE REMOVED

FILM SYNOPSIS

THE REMOVED reveals the lifelong impact on women coerced into giving up their newborn babies in Britain.
Rebecca Rose wrote, directed and produced the short film THE REMOVED which exposes the pain of the
estimated 215,000* mostly unmarried mothers who were forced into giving up their babies for adoption over a period of 30 years in England and Wales.

The British Government is yet to apologise for the historical injustice of forced adoption. THE REMOVED is currently on the festival circuit in the UK and internationally, winning 1 Best Short, 4 Best Director and 1 Best Actress awards to date. Producer, Swift Rocket Films: John Rose

Between 1949 and 1976 it was commonplace for families and institutions, including schools and churches, to send expectant mothers away from their homes to hide their pregnancy. The newborn babies were then forcibly removed and placed with adoptive parents. Women and girls who became pregnant outside of marriage were seen as having shamed themselves. In 2022 an inquiry was set up by the Joint Committee on Human Rights to investigate forced adoption during this period. The committee’s report says that women were subjected to ‘cruelty, abuse and pressure’, for the purpose of getting them to hand over their babies for adoption. There is an on-going campaign by the Movement for an Adoption Apology to ask the government in Westminster to officially apologise for its role in the practice of forced adoption. Time is running out for the many elderly survivors of forced adoption, for whom an apology would represent official acknowledgement and recognition of the pain caused and historical injustice.

Georgie Glen (The Crown, Call the Midwife, Le Miserables) and Tom Christian (Bridgerton, The Last Kingdom, Protection) star in THE REMOVED. Rebecca says, “The film deals with deeply unsettling subject matter and Georgie and Tom were a delight to work with. They deliver beautifully subtle and heart wrenching performances.”. Rebecca became aware of forced adoption in the UK when a close friend spoke of their own experience and, as a mother of three, was profoundly moved by the life long effect of forcibly separating children from their parents. Rebecca’s research for the film took her to the Movement for an Adoption Apology, a campaign group asking the UK Government to officially apologise for its role in forced adoption. Veronica Smith, a founding member of the MAA, with whom Rebecca had extensive conversations while writing THE REMOVED, sadly died during the making of the film.