Regarding your Crittendon Center article, Voices, April 12:
Society exacted a high price from single mothers during the '60s and earlier: the loss of our babies. Part of our "rehabilitation" for having had sex before we were married was to disappear to the confines of a maternity home. As a guest of Florence Crittendon in 1967, while treated with kindness, I received no counseling or support. Parenting programs did not exist because you were never going to be a parent. The purpose of all maternity homes was to keep us hidden away until the relinquishment of our child and then, and only then, were we fit to take our place back in decent society. We were forbidden to use our last names, even our mail was blacked out. Once we began to show, we were not permitted to leave the grounds.
