Kate Garraway displayed her empathetic nature as she offered comfort to a guest during a heart-wrenching discussion on GMB.
On Thursday’s episode, Kate and her fellow Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley welcomed Diana Defries to the show.
Diana was compelled to put her baby up for adoption at the tender age of just 16, and is now calling for an official apology from the government, as reported by the Mirror.
In a touching exchange, Richard asked about her last moments with her baby, prompting Diana to admit: “I can, it isn’t easy because it’s very difficult experience to talk about.”
Diana shared her poignant memory: “I stood there holding her and I felt, it was like something had changed in me, holding her that length of time. It suddenly all made sense, this was my child. I was filled with this feeling of joy.”
She went on: “The woman came out and said, ‘it’s time’ I still thought that they would change their minds and I just shook my head and held onto her. My mother said, ‘Oh for goodness sake’ prized her out of my arms and handed her over.”
As Diana struggled with her emotions, Kate was quick to offer comfort and tissues. Richard gave Diana space to gather herself, while Kate gently probed: “I know how important this is for you to speak out about this. What was the impact on your life? Of all of this?”
Diana opened up about the lasting impact of the event, stating: “It changed everything,” and explained how it took away her sense of self-determination and power.
Diana candidly shared with Kate and Richard the traumatic event she experienced shortly after her 17th birthday, which left indelible marks on her life. “It affected my education, it affected the way I went forward,” she revealed. “I made some, probably poor choices because I felt I was devalued.”
When Richard delved into how these incidents influenced her dynamics with her mother, Diana opened up about the lack of closure: “I never received an apology from my mother and have never forgiven her.”
Kate’s curiosity led her to ask whether Diana had managed to reconnect with her child who had been taken away. Diana replied with a sense of gratitude: “Yes, in that respect, I’m very lucky. She’s also said we’ve been very fortunate. I was able to reunite with her when she was 18.”
ITV brought attention to the fact that Diana belongs to a group of 200,000 unmarried mothers who were pressured into surrendering their babies for adoption in Britain between the 1950s and 1970s. These women now seek a formal apology from the government.
Eager to comprehend the importance of such an apology, Kate probed into its meaning for Diana, who expressed: “What would it mean for me, and for all the people affected by this. Both the mothers and the children who were taken, it would be an acknowledgement of the major, major injustice which we faced.
“It would be a way of validating what we’ve been saying for years, for decades, that this was wrong. It should’ve never happened. The support was available, but we weren’t told.”
Diana conveyed to the ITV hosts that an apology would shift the long-held shame from these women onto the state, which she holds responsible for the incidents.
On Thursday, ITV viewers will get a chance to explore Diana’s story and others in the programme Forced Adoption: Britain’s Silent Scandal.
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