'Ireland’s Lost Babies' was an episode of the international current affairs documentary series, “This World,” which airs on BBC TWO in the UK. The film is a follow-up to the 2013 motion picture Philomena, which was based on the true story of Philomena Lee, an Irish woman who was forced by the Catholic Church in Ireland to give up her young son for adoption when she was a teenager. Ms. Lee partnered with journalist Martin Sixsmith to help her find her son 50 years later. The film Philomena opened up a whole series of investigations into other such adoptions that occurred in Ireland decades ago.
In this documentary, Martin Sixsmith undertakes an investigative journey to determine the role of the Irish Catholic Church in the adoption “trade” that led thousands of children of unwed parents to be separated from their mothers and adopted abroad, most often to the United States, for a generous donation to the church. The film tells the stories of some of these mothers and children and uncovers some dark truths about the lack of vetting process for prospective parents, sometimes to tragic consequences.