The British Broadcasting Corporation reports that thousands of UK mothers over the past seven years have had successive children removed by family courts in England.
The figures: Court records for that period show 7,143 mothers were involved in repeat care cases - affecting 22,790 children. There were over 92,000 looked after children in the UK in 2013. The children in care figure has now exceeded the 10,000 mark.
Judges have observed in their own courts that many mothers, most between 14 – 24 years, are stuck in a destructive cycle of pregnancies and care proceedings. Their babies are often removed quickly, at birth or soon after.
The courts remove a young child or baby from a mother, owing to mistreatment, only to see the same mother return to court with a new baby soon after, and unable to care for that one either. Most misuse drink or drugs—or both. On rare occasions, the same mother has appeared after the 14th or 15th birth.
Society needs more projects to help parents break the destructive cycle. The emotional cost to the parents is just as high as the financial outlay of the community.
Some mentally incompetent women are sterilized. Surely, this should apply to the physically inept as well.
These poor children are our future.
About 50 years ago, my husband and I took our son to the doctor with a head injury. He'd been building a tree house in the hundred-year-old pine tree in the back garden and swung his hammer backward. Suspecting abuse, the doctor questioned us long and hard about how the injury happened. I don't blame him. Somebody needs to ensure our children are safe.