No Decent Girl: A Memoir by Jane Hayward

‘No decent man will ever want you.’ Jane still remembers the words her father said to her when he found out she was pregnant, although she was still a schoolgirl.

No Decent Girl is a moving literary memoir that captures what it was like to be young in 1960s, a time when the generation gap was wider than ever before.

In 1962, Jane’s family moved from the quiet English countryside into the heart of swinging London. Like all teenagers, she went to parties, drank alcohol and danced with boys. Jane’s parents were strict, middle class people and struggled to accept their daughter’s new life. They found her pregnancy even harder to deal with, believing it brought shame and disgrace on the family and all connected with them. Jane’s parents decided their only option was to send her away to a mother-and-baby home.

In the 1960s, thousands of pregnant girls were sent to homes for unwed mothers where they gave birth before making the heartbreaking decision to give their babies up for adoption, believing it offered the best future for their child.

[youthworker]

Thank you for your story Jane. I was one of those Babies, from a unwed mothers home Called Prospect House in Hoylake, Wirrel. I have put your link in there for people to see. mothers and babies :)