St Teresas maternity Hosp

[nah da]

Hello, my "mother" told me that i was born in st teresas hospital, but she doesnt have any photo of her pregnansy with me, i suspect she lies.And now i ve founded this page that speaks about how nuns gaved unwanted babies in adoption, i only have a paper that says i was born in saint teresas in 1975.
i wowld like to speak with someone who feels the same way, thanks.
i came to live to argetina when i was 3 years old.

[nah da]

i was born in 1975 in snt teresas i want to know where i can found the birth certificate.
Now i live in argentina and i know st teresas doesn exist ay more,but i soupose that al the birth informations have been saved somewere.i doubt my mother is my real mother,so i also want to know if in that year  where any adoptions,thanks.

[sarah]

Hello Nah da,

You have made two replies on RootsChat one topic for St Teresas in Manchester and one on St Teresas in Wimbeldon, you can not have been born in both places do you know which one is correct ?

Regards

Sarah

[Kelly_julie1]

Hi Nah da.
 I'm so sorry for your situation, I can't really say whether your mother would be telling the truth or not. What I can tell you is my experience of being in St. Theresa's mother and baby home back in the early 80s not too long after you were born. Whilst there I met many women from different denominations and different countries but quite a lot from Ireland. I was pregnant and left before giving birth but I know for a fact women gave birth there. I think there was a hospital wing in the home because  you could often hear the women in labour. I never thought too much about it then, but looking back not too many of those babies ever ended up back in the care of their mothers. I don't know what happened to them,  some people have spoken about mass graves in the ground of the home and some have said that the babies were sold but I don't know which is true because I was only very young then and didn't really have much experience of the horrors that went on in these places.  They were very disciplined though, and being an unmarried mother was considered to be a sin. I've seen so many terrible things in this place, we were all made to wash the habits and other clothes of the nuns and it didn't matter whether you were sick, in labour or exhausted you still had to do it and those places were boiling hot. Maybe your mum was telling you the truth but thank goodness you're alive and well if she did have you there. please let me know how you get on and if I can be of any further help please contact me. Julie

[Kelly_julie1]

 Please don't blame your mum if you find out you were born in Saint Theresa's, because she would really have had no say in what happened to you. The nuns there were terrible, barbaric and they used to take pleasure in punishing young girls who simply got pregnant at the wrong time.  As I mentioned in my post earlier, I don't know if she would have been telling you the truth but the chances are she was. It was very hard for women in there and sometimes their babies were taken very much against their will.  There was a nursery there, where all the children would play together whilst their mothers worked in the laundry. Sometimes when the mothers came back to see their children they'd gone - disappeared and they never saw them again. This I think is why the scandal came about babies being sold illegally.  I remember it happening to someone I was quite close to, her baby was taken illegally and we was sure then that he had been sold but nobody can prove anything just don't assume your mum was lying.

[sarah]

Hi Julie,

Nah da has also replied on another topic saying she was born in Wimbledon as well, I have asked them to confirm which St Teresa's she thinks it is.

Regards

Sarah

[Ruskie]

Do you have a subscription to Ancestry or another pay site? You should be able to locate your birth there. Also worth looking at freebmd though I am not sure if all records have been transcribed yet.

Is your mother still alive? Do you think (or know for sure) that she is not your biological mother? Have you asked her about your birth and adoption? Are you sure you were adopted?

Who told you that you were born in St Teresas ?

How old were you when you went to Argentina? Are there any records of your departure from England, or arrival in Argentina? Who did you travel with?

[nah da]

i just dont feel im her dougther,she aways made diference with my brother,she doesnt have any photos of her pregnancy with me but she has a lot with my brothers, she cant see me as a subject of rigth.and now that ive founded al this roumours about saint teresas i think that maby i m not her dougther. she always sad that she ve lost a baby before having me. she had my brother in 1973 ,then she lost her baby  in 1974: she says she get sick and lost the baby at the 5 month of pregnancy, and she had me in 1975. its strange. she also says that in saint teresa she stayd 10 days with me, i didnt slept with her,and she ony so me a few hours a day,becouse the nuns took care of me.
i want to know if there is any place i can found all the legal birth certificate ,thanks

[Ruskie]

If both you and your mother take a DNA test, that should answer your questions.

The lack of photographs while pregnant is no reason to doubt you are her daughter.

In general maternity hospitals in the past, the baby was taken from the mother so that the mother had some quiet time to rest and recover after the birth.

Have you asked your mother if she has a copy of your birth certificate?