IRELAND’S LOST BABIES

This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Mary Monaghan and Martin visit the grave of her dead natural mother for the first time. Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Martin Sixsmith Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Martin Sixsmith Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Mary Monaghan and Martin visit the grave of her dead natural mother for the first time. Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Martin Sixsmith in Dublin Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Martin Sixsmith in Dublin Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Martin Sixsmith in Dublin Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Martin Sixsmith outside a church in Dublin. Copyright: © BBC 2014
This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Image Name: This World: Ireland's Lost Babies Description: Picture Shows: Martin Sixsmith Copyright: © BBC 2014

Broadcast Details: Thursday 18th September, 10.15pm

An investigation into the Irish Catholic Church’s role in an adoption trade which saw thousands of 'illegitimate' children taken from their mothers and sent abroad, often with donations to the Church flowing in the other direction.

Ireland’s Lost Babies (This World)

An investigation into the Irish Catholic Church’s role in an adoption trade which saw thousands of ‘illegitimate’ children taken from their mothers and sent abroad, often with donations to the Church flowing in the other direction. The 2013 movie Philomena was the true story of one mother’s quest, with the help of journalist Martin Sixsmith, to find her son 50 years after she was forced to give him up.

Now Martin travels to Ireland and America to reveal the moving stories of other parents and children whose lives were changed forever, discovering evidence that the Church failed to properly vet prospective parents, sometimes with tragic consequences.

RTÉ One,  Thursday 18 September 2014, 10.15pm