Taken: A True Story of the Pain and Scandal of Forced Adoption

by Michelle Pearson

In 1972, Michelle Pearson gave up her son for adoption.

As ‘one of those girls’, she was expected to hide her shame with secrecy. No one should ever find out she’d had a child.

But she never forgot the son who was taken from her.

In the years that followed she struggled with PTSD, traumatic memory loss, agoraphobia and anxiety – impacting every area of her life.

This is Michelle’s story of love, loss and hope; of how over 50 years she has managed the consequences of living with her secret, survived the emotional pain, and finally, after being reunited with her son, the journey to rebuild their lives together.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Adoption, Memoir

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2022

About the author

Michelle Pearson is a British Author, living in South East England. A scientist by education but with an eclectic career history from milking cows and working as a lifeguard through to the city, global IT and running her own business. Along the way she found time to qualify and teach Pilates and Tai Chi. TAKEN is Michelle’s first book covering a very personal journey through life. When away from writing she enjoys being outside with nature walking with her husband and their two dogs, as well as her other passion, photography.

Reviews

[Marta Ryznar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and a beautiful story.

[Hayley · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first started this book just from the description I knew that this would be one book that would really grab me. While I have read my fair share of memoirs over the years none of them have ever dealt with this particular subject. I can't imagine having a child and then being forced to give it up just because I was single. It's heart breaking that this was happening at any point in time to people. This story is about exactly that same thing that happened to a young woman named Michelle in 1972. After her child was ripped from her loving arms she never gave up thinking about him and struggled terribly with many mental disorders that occurred because of her trauma. This book was so sad because our author never stopped talking about the love she felt for her baby, when she was pregnant, after she gave birth, and ever after her child was snatched from her she just poured out love for the infant so it was heartbreaking. I can just imagine how painful this book must have been to write and even as a reader and a non mother I really felt her suffering. This book was amazing and a real tearjerker. What I wasn't expecting from this book was a lot of talk about her as an adult and her adult child and all of the friction that this forced adoption caused them as they were older. It is something that happens however you don't read about it to often in these kinds of stories. Such a sad book but very interesting at the same time. I'm so glad that I got the chance to check it out.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I admire the author for sharing her story and I hope writing this book helped with healing.
Reading this book, I can sense how hard it was for Michelle and Tim to give up their baby. The amount of pressure on them along with lack of support, was heartbreaking. Thankfully baby Tim ended up with a good family who raised him well. I can't imagine how hard it would be to keep the secrets they had to keep for so many decades.

[Sandra "Jeanz" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michelle's story is told in a very matter of fact way, stating facts, timelines, dates etc. I think Michelle tells her story in a very forthright manner, straight to the point. I have read other similar stories of forced adoption and I think this style of telling her story about being forced into putting her precious baby son should not be mistaken as coldness, but as a way to try to reign in the tumultuous emotions she must have had to revisit to write this book.
It's almost as if Michelle has had to separate herself from 'young pregnant Michelle' it was in a different era at times in the books it's as if it happened to a different person too but it's important to remember this isn't a fictional story, this actually happened to Michelle, to real people, real lives were and are still affected.
Utmost respect to Michelle for holding back & accepting her sons decision to keep their reunion a secret from his adoptive parents. It must have been a difficult secret to keep as well as agony emotionally keeping it secret too.
I guess Michelle had a 'happy ending' in that she was reunited with her son and is part of his life, not everyone gets this favourable ending. It could have been so very different for Michelle if Tim/John's adoptive mother had got her way. Also can it truly be called a 'happy' ending after all the heartbreak Michelle went through, she was seen as the 'bad' girl from the moment it was revealed she was pregnant.....it takes two to make a baby! Yet Tim was seen as being the 'responsible one.' The 'loose morals' label was definitely hung around Michelle's neck and made heavier to bear both during her stay at the mother and baby home and afterwards in her adult life. I found myself shaking my head, gritting and grinding my teeth in anger at how Michelle was made to feel by those around her. It's so easy to dismiss it all as being down to the era she was living in, her parents religion etc. I dread to think how many women are out their grieving for lost children. The ones too scared to try yo make contact, or where theres not enough information or even where the adopted child refuses contact.
Sadly I don't think lessons have been fully learnt as those in power with authority seem to always think that they 'know best'. That theres a 'one size fits all' solution to every/any problem or issue that arises.
Summing up, though it feels odd and wrong to use the word 'enjoy' in connection to such a heart rending book but I did enjoy reading it, I found it thought provoking and informative. It made me think about what sort of pressure is put on young pregnant girls these days, or are they given the whole picture as there seems to be much more help available now. I struggled a little at the beginning, not getting on well with the style in which Michelle's story was being delivered. However, I was pulled into the book more and more as time went on, was in tears in quite a few places within the book and wanted to reach through the book and hug both 'young Michelle' and older Michelle on many occasions.

[Michaela Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stolen child

Your baby was stolen from you without giving you any support to deal with such a horrendous trauma. Sadly this still goes on today, known as forced adoption , babies taken from loving mothers , babies that are not abused or neglected.
Thank you for sharing your own personal experience and life, that often moved me to tears. The information you shared has helped me to get in touch with agencies so that I can try and get letter box contact with my grandsons (now 8 years old) adopted parents. Also , I now have information thanks to you so I can help my daughter. She has now got a beautiful baby daughter and wonderful partner, but like you suffers from anxiety and has never had any form of counseling. Thanks to you , I now have the information and resources to help my daughter.

[stephen smitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traumatic

Can't imagine what it was like for Michelle having her baby snatched away as she was unmarried. Thank god times have changed. She was a new mum who loved her baby so much, also her boyfriend but that didn't matter as long as no one felt shame due to the circumstances. Just awful for her and her baby. Michelle kept in touch with the father, I would liked to have known a little more about how he felt, and whether he was ever reunited with his son. I think that was a huge omission in the book.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the distressing story of the wrong done to Michelle Pearson when she was a young girl, in the name of respectability.

I have no personal experience of adoption, the nearest I have been is a whispered 'confession'[ by a friend at the tender age of seven who told me she was adopted. Given I had no conscious knowledge of adoption at the time, I did somehow understand that this was shameful - this would have been circa 1977. Much later I had a friend who had been adopted by her natural grandparents and later met her younger half-sister who had been adopted out of the family, these adoptions having happened in the 50s and 60s. This story had me feeling a great deal of compassion for everyone involved, especially the first mother.

Michelle's story has opened my eyes to the effects that last beyond the horror of being parted from your child to the life-long consequences of those decisions made by individuals on behalf of a society who chose to demonise women for becoming pregnant.

The story itself is engaging although I did find the opening section a little stilted, once the scene was set and the characters drawn, it is an important book for anyone to read, particularly those who think all of this happened in the past and so what is the use of apologies now!

[Helen Latto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the true life account of a girl who was made to give her baby up at 15 years old. This happened to many young single mothers back in those days and the book dealt with her ongoing trauma throughout life afterwards aswell as how the system was so flawed at the time. My only criticism of this book was all of the amnesia that stopped us from getting all of the details of the story, whilst I am compassionate and understand the the amnesia brought on by the trauma of it must have been awful for poor Michelle and she must want to remember these things too more than anything, but as a reader I felt I wanted more details than I got and I was really keen to get to the bit with the reunion between Michelle and her then grown up son and to read about that but because of the amnesia there was no mention of what they spoke about, how the first reactions were etc, I should have been reading about that emotional reunion in floods of tears but instead it didn’t raise any emotion in me because of the lack of details.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Helen Latto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the true life account of a girl who was made to give her baby up at 15 years old. This happened to many young single mothers back in those days and the book dealt with her ongoing trauma throughout life afterwards aswell as how the system was so flawed at the time. My only criticism of this book was all of the amnesia that stopped us from getting all of the details of the story, whilst I am compassionate and understand the the amnesia brought on by the trauma of it must have been awful for poor Michelle and she must want to remember these things too more than anything, but as a reader I felt I wanted more details than I got and I was really keen to get to the bit with the reunion between Michelle and her then grown up son and to read about that but because of the amnesia there was no mention of what they spoke about, how the first reactions were etc, I should have been reading about that emotional reunion in floods of tears but instead it didn’t raise any emotion in me because of the lack of details.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1972, Michelle Pearson gave up her son for adoption.
As ‘one of those girls’, she was expected to hide her shame with secrecy. No one should ever find out she’d had a child.
But she never forgot the son who was taken from her.
In the years that followed she struggled with PTSD, traumatic memory loss, agoraphobia and anxiety impacting every area of her life.
This is Michelle’s story of love, loss and hope; of how over 50 years she has managed the consequences of living with her secret, survived the emotional pain, and finally, after being reunited with her son, the journey to rebuild their lives together.
Really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Ad Lib Publishers

I just reviewed Taken by Michelle Pearson. #Taken #NetGalley

[Nicki Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thankyou to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. A heartfelt and thought provoking read about how Michelle was forced to give up her baby for adoption in 1972 and the lifelong impacts this forced decision has had on her. It was heart wrenching to read of her longing for her son and heartwarming to read of their reunion. As a child of an unwed mother from the 70's myself, who was also adopted out, this was a very touching read. ⭐⭐⭐#netgalley #michellepearson #taken #memoir #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #thestorygraph #litsy #amazonaustralia #bookstagram #bookqueen

[clover_c_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having wrote a book about my own experiences, I appreciate how emotionally challenging this was to write and it was to read. My blood was boiling at the similarity in the way we as FMs were approached and treated by authorities.
A worthy read. A valuable insight to our social structure. This is still happening. Now they convince you the parents are a ‘future risk.’ Or that having depression makes you unable to parent. Same meat different gravy. One day I hope this will be as absurd to us as being unwed now seems.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching memoir about a young teenager forced to make a life altering decision at 16. Michelle had a baby and couldn’t keep him. She talks about how that event impacted the rest of her life in relationships
, her career, and her mental health.
For people who don’t understand the stigma that was attached to pregnancies outside of marriage, it’s the perfect book to read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy.

[Alyssa Bernhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir was an emotional, gut wrenching story that was at times very difficult to read. I appreciate the author’s willingness to share her story and journey and her transparency about the true struggle she faced for many years. It’s important to understand the history of what I would call forced birth and how forced birth often led to forced adoption. I’m thrilled with the outcome of this story and for anyone whose life has been impacted by adoption, this is worth a read.

[Becki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful read.
True story and what a heartbreaking experience..to have a child at 16 and have to put him up for adoption must have been one of the most hardest but one of the most terrifying experiences. To read about how it affected her life for so many years is heartbreaking. I'm just so glad she finally found her son.

[Caz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a heart breaking book. A real eye opener of the damage that was done back in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s when as a young unmarried mum to be you had no rights and the few you did have you couldn’t get the support to act on. Michelle, what an amazing lady.

[EvangelinePB · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the type of book I usually read, which is precisely why I chose it, & I'm glad I did. It moved me to tears more than once, taught me a lot, & I wish Michelle & her loved ones nothing but happiness.

[Holly Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michelle! Thanks for sharing your journey with us readers. What a sad sad read, I welled up at times reading of your experience after being pregnant

You are one strong and amazing person! Remember that. I’m so glad you have seeked out help.

[Kathleen Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much

Good but a bit repetitive and as a mother of course I can totally sympathise but it began to wear on me less than half way through the book a bit too much me me me and me

[Sharon Uberoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope that through writing this story, this has helped with your healing. It feels wrong to rate your experience but thank you for allowing us a glimpse into your life.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaking story of unfairness and pain. It tore my heart in two and I could feel the pressure and the pain but under that was so much strength and courage.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting

I got really engrossed in this book I also keep things hidden inside we all have had our struggles in our way

[s l thorpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting read

Quite interesting, riveting in parts, repetitive toward the end but a story that needs to be told and that many mothers will find heat wrenching

[Lydia Reid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually books written by people are very basic but this wasn't too bad. A lot of nice writing describing her feelings & childhood. I did get a sense of how entitled she thought she was but enjoyed the book over all, even with the last 8 or so chapters being a load of waffle that wasn't a story, more statistics and talk about getting gov compensation for being treated so badly back then

[Soph Bower · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish sadly!

Usually the sort of book I would enjoy reading and not be able to put down, and while the storyline was both heartbreaking and intriguing, the actual writing didn't keep my interest at all.

I kept feeling like I must be near the end when really I was only about 40% in the first time I thought that. A lot of repetition, lots of detail in places there needn't be, and parts which should have you feeling the emotions of the author were lacking detail sadly.

I got around 70% through and can see what a strong woman Michelle is from everything she has been through and it's amazing she is bringing her story (and that of many other women) to light, however as a book I feel it could be better written.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad traumatic experience for the author & so very well written

The author’s honesty hurt humiliation & reunion with her son tells the heartbreaking story of what it was like to have her baby taken away because society thought having a baby outside of marriage was shameful.