Commissioned by the Committee on Domestic Abandonment and Adoption (CBAA), Atria conducted a sub-study on the experiences of people who experienced abandonment and adoption in the Netherlands between 1956 and 1984. During this period, many women who were unmarried or had unwanted pregnancies gave up a child for adoption.
Commissioned by the Committee on Domestic Abandonment and Adoption (CBAA), Atria conducted a sub-study on the experiences of people who experienced abandonment and adoption in the Netherlands between 1956 and 1984. During this period, many women who were unmarried or had unwanted pregnancies gave up a child for adoption.
What did the investigation entail?
The Committee on Domestic Abandonment and Adoption led an independent investigation with three main questions:
What happened?
What caused it to happen the way it did? Which actors/institutions influenced the decisions?
How did those involved experience the events during that period and later in their lives?
Atria's substudy highlights the experiences of people who gave up a child, people who were given up as children, people who raised a child who was given up, and loved ones of all these people. This research ran in parallel with studies by the International Institute of Social History (IISH) on historical sources and Maastricht University on contemporary perspectives.
How did Atria conduct the research?
Based on a questionnaire survey, oral history interviews (oral transmission of stories from the past) and an analysis of submitted life histories, we analyzed what those involved experienced themselves and what it meant to them at the time and afterwards. These included women who had relinquished a child, men whose children had been relinquished, people who had been relinquished as children, people who were raising one or more relinquished children, and people who were affected by this in their immediate environment.
What is the purpose of this study?
A report has been made of the sub-investigation, which, together with the other sub-investigations, should answer the committee's questions. The committee is writing up the answer in a report, which was presented to the state attorney general on June 19, 2025.
Team
Ingrid Doorten (researcher and project leader)
Paula Thijs (researcher)
Britt Myren (researcher)
Franca Hehenkamp (researcher until July 2025)
Mickey Steijaert (researcher until September 2024)
Tess Czerski (researcher until May 2024)
Publications
The final report Schade door schande was presented to State Secretary for Legal Protection Teun Struycken in June 2025.
Final report Schade door schande with sub-research and context stories [PDF on cbaa.nl].
Appendix to the substudy Deep traces by Atria [PDF on cbaa.nl]
