Banished Babies: The Secret Story of Ireland's Baby Export Business

The story of baby trafficking organised by nuns, sanctioned by an archbishop, administered by civil servants and approved by politicians who tried to keep it secret ...

In this re-issue of the 2012 second edition of his highly acclaimed Banished Babies, Mike Milotte uncovers in vivid detail how the State colluded with the Church to facilitate the export of thousands of 'illegitimate' children in the 1950s and 60s, and how a black market existed in which Irish babies were bought and sold beyond the fringes of the official scheme.

Mike Milotte's damning exposé was first published to critical acclaim in 1997, and quickly achieved iconic status. In this second edition, the author has added previously untold personal stories from some of the 'banished babies' he met in the intervening period, stories that further illuminate the murky shadows of this official, but long-concealed child-export business.

Banished Babies will shock and anger anyone who is prepared to confront the truth about Ireland's dark and sordid past. Read more Continue reading Read less REVIEW
An astonishing story, meticulously told - and an excellent piece of journalism.
An Phoblacht

This book would make your blood boil...one of the finest pieces of journalism this reader has come across for many a day. The author, Mike Milotte, has done his profession proud.
Padraig O'Morain, The Irish Times

A brilliant exposé of the shabby history of sectarian cruelty to unmarried women who became pregnant in Ireland in the 1950s.
Susan McKay, Sunday Tribune

Milotte's work has been of immense importance in the opening up of adoption stories in Ireland.
Dr Valerie O'Brien & Dr Sahana Mitra, Research on Adoption in Ireland

A salutary story, too long untold, and another nail in the coffin of Dev's mythical mystical Ireland.
The Big Issue ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Milotte is a prominent print and television journalist. After almost 20 years as a senior reporter/presenter with Irish Television's Prime Time programme, where he won numerous awards for his documentaries, Mike went freelance in 2009. His two-part programme, Freefall, which tells the story of Ireland's economic and financial collapse, won the 2010 Irish Film & Television Award for best documentary in current affairs. In 2012 he published a greatly expanded and updated version of his bestselling 1997 book, Banished Babies: The Secret History of Ireland's Baby Export Business, which meticulously exposes the scandal surrounding the dispatch of thousands of 'illegitimate' Irish children to the USA for adoption. Mike lives in London. Read more Continue reading Read less