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Kōrero: Adoption

Decline of adoption

Image
Decline of adoption

In the early 1960s the number of unmarried mothers who kept their children started to rise. This meant that homes which catered for unmarried mothers were increasingly underused. The Alexandra Home for Unmarried Mothers in Wellington reopened in a new building on a new site in 1974, but by this time its services were no longer in demand. Matron P. Dowling sits in the home's empty lounge.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: EP/1974/1642/27

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Anne Else, Adoption – Adoption and single mothers – 1960s and 1970s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/26056/decline-of-adoption (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Anne Else, i tāngia i te 28 February 2011.