Taken: A True Story of the Pain and Scandal of Forced Adoption (Stolen Lives)
£4.70
In 1972, Michelle Pearson gave up her son for adoption.
As ‘one of those girls’, she was expected to hide her shame with secrecy. No one should ever find out she’d had a child.
But she never forgot the son who was taken from her.
In the years that followed she struggled with PTSD, traumatic memory loss, agoraphobia and anxiety – impacting every area of her life.
This is Michelle’s story of love, loss and hope; of how over 50 years she has managed the consequences of living with her secret, survived the emotional pain, and finally, after being reunited with her son, the journey to rebuild their lives together.
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‘Interesting. Fascinating. I wanted to hold Michelle’s hand and say “We can do this”‘ Louise Allen
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Additional information
| Publisher | Mardle Books (1 Sept. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 4385 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 273 pages |
by Jane Sime
Can’t imagine what it was like for Michelle having her baby snatched away as she was unmarried. Thank god times have changed. She was a new mum who loved her baby so much, also her boyfriend but that didn’t matter as long as no one felt shame due to the circumstances. Just awful for her and her baby. Michelle kept in touch with the father, I would liked to have known a little more about how he felt, and whether he was ever reunited with his son. I think that was a huge omission in the book.
by Barbara
The author’s honesty hurt humiliation & reunion with her son tells the heartbreaking story of what it was like to have her baby taken away because society thought having a baby outside of marriage was shameful.
by Kathleen Browne
Good but a bit repetitive and as a mother of course I can totally sympathise but it began to wear on me less than half way through the book a bit too much me me me and me
by michaela
Your baby was stolen from you without giving you any support to deal with such a horrendous trauma. Sadly this still goes on today, known as forced adoption , babies taken from loving mothers , babies that are not abused or neglected.
Thank you for sharing your own personal experience and life, that often moved me to tears. The information you shared has helped me to get in touch with agencies so that I can try and get letter box contact with my grandsons (now 8 years old) adopted parents. Also , I now have information thanks to you so I can help my daughter. She has now got a beautiful baby daughter and wonderful partner, but like you suffers from anxiety and has never had any form of counseling. Thanks to you , I now have the information and resources to help my daughter.
by mrs r thomas
Brilliant
by All the mice love me
This is the story of one woman’s inner struggle to come to terms with the painful relinquishment of her child which lasted the whole of her life. Aged 16, Michelle was pressurized by her unsympathetic parents and the local authorities, and church, to give up her unplanned child, which she conceived with her boyfriend. This has a profound psychological affect on her, which she tries to bury by being a high achiever in a series of successful career choices. But her inner feelings never go away, and every chapter in the book is devoted to the trauma, and guilt she feels inside, for giving up her baby. I think the book should have been called ‘Trauma’ instead of ‘Taken’ because that is what I got from the book. I can’t say that I really enjoyed it, although it was engaging. I was expecting more emotion from the earlier chapters when she first has to give her baby up, but didn’t get a real sense of any feeling, until much later on. Towards the end I fast read to get to the finishing line. But saying that, the book was well written and worth a read.
by Susan Willis
This is such a sad and happy story in so many ways, it made me laugh and cry. Michelle, you are one amazing lady, so strong and I wish you and your Son all the very best. I read this book, 60 chapters, in 2 days. Doing nothing in between, I could not put it down, thank you for being brave enough to share your story. X
by Mandy MacDonald
This book was amazing,I could of read about Michelle’s life for ever, highly recommend, didn’t want to finish it, but also desperate to carry on x saw myself in Michelle a lot, and can really relate x