BABY FARMING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 249, 20 October 1937, Page 2

BABY FARMING

DOCTORS’ OPPOSITION CRUEL FOSTER-MOTHERS Tragedies of unwanted and unloved babies, who are pushed willy-nilly into the home of any woman who will keep them for a small weekly payment, must stop. This is the decision of medical officers of health in big towns, who are appalled at the amount of suffering caused to children by the slackness of i the laws governing foster-mothers. | They are urging the Minister of i Health and local authorities to make i registration of all foster-mothers comj pulsory. If this happens, the lives of 20.000 foster-children may be affected. I In this way they hope to weed out ' women whose shrewdish temper and ! unsympathetic attitude to the children ; cause them untold misery. Kindness Tests I I If the doctors have their way, all | foster-mothers will be given tests i which will show their true natures. The tests would reveal whether they have any real love for children, if they are good-natured and kindly, with understanding of the child mind. One of the prime movers in this agitation for registration of foster-moth-ers is Dr. Percival V. Pritchard, de-puty-Medical Officer of Health for St. I Pancras, who says in a report to St. [Pancras Council: — i “In my opinion registration should be the fundamental principle. In this way a woman would have to prove her ability and suitability of her home before she could obtain a certificate permitting her to care for a certain and fixed number of children. The law ,at present allows practically any woman to undertake this serious duty so long as she notifies the Borough Council of her intention to do so.” Council —Parent A bright example is shown in Surrey, where the County Council is now acting as fairy godmother to nearly 1300 children. Many are orphans; many more were born to homes where they had not the remotest chance of getting a good start in life.

“We do our best to give them a real home life,” said an official. “Legal adoption makes things much easier for us. Without it there would be many cases where, keen as we might be to do something for a child, we might be prevented because we had no legal power.”