Story: Adoption

Joss Shawyer, 1975

Joss Shawyer, 1975

Activist and single mother Joss Shawyer campaigned for the rights of single mothers from the 1970s. She founded The Council for the Single Mother and Her Child in 1973 and was a foundation member of Jigsaw (established in 1976), which helped women find children who had been adopted out. Her 1979 book Death by adoption argued that social policies, practices and adoption law forced women to give up their babies.

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Photograph by Sandra Coney

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How to cite this page:

Anne Else, 'Adoption - From secrecy to openness', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/26060/joss-shawyer-1975 (accessed 18 April 2024)

Story by Anne Else, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 18 Apr 2018