The "Baby Farmers"a tragedy of Victorian times.

The "Baby Farmers":

The practice of baby farming grew up in late Victorian era when there was no effective contraception and great social stigma attached to having a child out of wedlock. Proper adoption agencies and social services didn't exist at this time. Instead, a number of untrained women offered legal fostering and adoption services to unmarried mothers who would hand over their baby plus, say 10 to 15 pounds in cash (quite a large sum of money then) to them in the hope that the child would be re-homed. Most of the babies were in one way or another. It is probable that some were sold to childless couples and others fostered/adopted for a few pounds. Unmarried mothers were often desperate so they answered the adverts placed in newspapers by seemingly reputable people. Getting rid of a child in this way had obvious advantages to the mother - it was simple, quick and legal with few questions asked. The mothers had few real alternatives. Abortion was illegal and the back street abortions that were carried out were a very high risk alternative, sometimes resulting in severe haemorrhaging or even the death of the women or prosecution and imprisonment if she was found out. Abandonment was similarly illegal and little sympathy was extended by the courts to women who abandoned their children in those days. Murdering of unwanted children by their mothers typically resulted in the death penalty in Victorian Britain. Selina Wadge was hanged by William Marwood on the 15th of August 1878 at Bodmin for the murder of her illegitimate son, and Louisa Masset became the first person to be executed in the 20th century for murdering her young son. (Click her for a full description of her case).

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