michelle rosser[creighton]

[francesca]

when is the catholic church going to pay up to the thousands of women who had their children forcably taken off them in mother and baby homes and why did the irish government allow it to happen. was it the fat bank accounts of the adopting famalies that swung it for them

[morticia]

Good question; the issue of re-uniting adoptees with natural parents seems to have been on the radio a lot recently.

Irish society played a huge role in this as well, arguably greater than that of the Government. Back pre-1960s, Britain and possibly the rest of Europe would have been similar.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

This is an area where I think there will be certain revelations about the work of church related groups in adoption of Chinese children in Europe and the United States.

The average amount paid to a Chinese family for a child to be given up to adoption until recently was around $300.

'Good' families (ie wealthy enough to pay) in the west can pay anything from $15,000 up to just over $30,000.

Not hard to work this out. Not all children are trafficked out of China for nefarious purposes. Its big business.

I've a feeling we'll hear more about this at some point in the not-too-distant future. its something parents who have adopted from church groups rather than state adoption agencies don't want to talk about for obvious reasons.

Its a bit of an elephant in the western room.