Commissioned by the Commissie Binnenlandse Afstand en Adoptie (CBAA), Atria conducted a sub-study into 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 Commissie Binnenlandse Afstand en Adoptie (CBAA), Atria conducted a sub-study into 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 enquiry entail?
The Commissie Binnenlandse Afstand en Adoptie led an independent enquiry with three main questions:
What happened?
What made it 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 sub-study 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 relatives of all these people. This research ran in parallel with studies by the International Institute of Social History (IISG) on historical sources and Maastricht University on contemporary perspectives.
How did Atria conduct research?
Based on a questionnaire survey, oral history interviews (oral transmission of stories from the past) and an analysis of submitted life histories, we analysed what those involved experienced themselves and what it meant to them at the time and afterwards. These included women who had a child relinquished, men whose children were relinquished, people who were relinquished as children, people who raised one or more relinquished children, and people who had to deal with this in their immediate environment.
What is the purpose of this study?
A report has been made of the sub-study, which, together with the other sub-studies, is intended to answer the committee's questions. The committee is writing up the answer in a report, which was presented to the state secretary for legal affairs on 19 June 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)
