It is a truth universally acknowledged that we are all sexual beings and will at some point in our lives, engage in a sexual act. It is also a truth that pregnancy is often the result of such an experience, regardless of our marital status.
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, by Ann Fessler, was published in 2007. The women she interviewed mostly came of age in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Despite coming from different backgrounds and different parts of the country, the story was the same.
Finding themselves pregnant and without a ring on their left hand, these girls either went into hiding or we sent to/dropped off at facilities that would house them until the baby was born. Once the children entered the world, the mothers were coerced by parents, religious leaders, and social workers to give up their newborns for adoption.
The book is hard to read, for good reason. The stories that are chronicled are full of pain, anger, shame, and decades of trauma.
Two things struck me with Fessler’s tale. The first is that the young ladies were slut shamed while their boyfriends and partners mostly got off scot-free. The second is the mental health (and sometimes physical health) battles lasted long after they gave birth.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely. It is a must-read for anyone who cares about restoring Roe and making sure that a woman’s healthcare and sexual choices are her own.
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade is available wherever books are sold.
Writergurlny 