Reply #22: The shaming was intense, and the young mothers were regarded as sluts

[Lydia Leftcoast]

I was living in Oregon when the state opened its adoption records, and there were several older women in my apartment building who had coffee together each morning.

They were horrified at the decision to open the adoption records. Why, no woman would want it known that she had had an illegitimate child! What if her husband found out! He would divorce her immediately! Her friends would ostracize her!

My response was that any husband or friend who acted that way toward someone they'd known for years was not worthy of the label of "husband" or "friend," but these women were unconvinced.