Authors N National Aged and Community Care Roundtable for Forgotten Australians ➝ A Moment in Care ➝ Back to Top

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Culture misunderstood, families separated Leidenlawblog 2025 A Danish experiment was carried out in 1951 when 22 Inuit Greenlander children were separated from their families and sent to Denmark as an experiment in raising “”model” Greenlanders to help bridge Danish and indigenous cultures”. Denmark has since apologised, https://www.careexperienceandculture.com/master/denmark-says-sorry-to-children-of-failed-experiment More recently there has been concern that Greenlandic families have been “misjudged by a child protection system that didn’t understand them”. For example, psychometric testing has been carried out on Greenlandic parents. While these were designed to test for parenting capability, they were carried out in Danish and disadvantaged Greenlandic parents. Sometimes this has led to the separation of parents from children and likely has contributed to the over-representation of children born in Greenland being in the state care system. https://www.leidenlawblog.nl/articles/culture-misunderstood-families-separated External Website

Authors S What Mummies Are Made Of by Stephanie Hutton ➝ The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) ➝ Heidi ➝ The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict ➝ Dennis and the Big Decisions (2-5 years) ➝ The Leftovers ➝ Extraordinary Birds (8-12 years) ➝ The Circus is Coming ➝ Don't Ask The Dragon ➝ Jamberoo Road ➝ The Mysterious Benedict Society ➝ Ballet Shoes ➝ Back to Top

Academic Articles A perspective from the periphery: Re-imagining regional North Queensland women's stories using historical fiction Louise Henry 2019 In this article, Louise Henry, a PhD candidate at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia is considering the ethics of writing a novel about her grandmother. Louise is writing a historical fiction novel about her grandmother who was born in North Queensland in 1913, made a ward of the state 5 years later and then spent time in both the Townsville Orphanage and foster homes during 1920s. "Writing about family members throws up ethical challenges around representation and the use of family familes that are not directly my own" says Louise in the attached article. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience After Anne Logan Steiner 2023 In After Anne, Logan Steiner explores "the story behind the story", the story of Canadian Lucy Maud Montgomery who gave us the delighful and enduring character, Anne of Green Gables. The novel is a tribute to Montgomery, revealing the hidden challenges faced by Montgomery during her life while also celebrating her work. External Website

Authors C Korean-born Australian woman overturns adoption as federal inquiry launched ➝ After I was taken off my birth parents, my foster carers became the family I needed ➝ The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson review – an elegant retelling of Shakespeare ➝ The Free State’s Forgotten Children ➝ Christian Bale unveils plans to build 12 foster homes in California ➝ Almost 70 mass unmarked child graves discovered by ITV News investigation into mother and baby homes ➝ Adoption support charity shreds 'irreplaceable' files to save space ➝ She knocked on the door and the nun said her son was gone' - the story of the forgotten foster children ➝ Torn between her African and English mums: Lola (Jaye) had an idyllic childhood - until the day social workers knocked at the door ➝ ‘I lived in a state of terror’: Patricia Cornwell on childhood trauma, her new novel and the search for Bigfoot ➝ Jenni Fagan’s ‘visceral’ memoir of growing up in care wins Gordon Burn prize ➝ Back to Top

Activists The First Care Experienced Activist? Hannah Brown 1866-1973 Hannah Brown (1866-1973) was baptized Hannah Sherman at the foundling hospital in 1866. Hannah later wrote The Child She Bare, an account of her childhood experiences which she published anonymously as a foundling.Hannah Brown was brought to the Foundling Hospital in 1866. She wrote an account of her childhood experiences which was published anonymously The Child She Bare, A Foundling (London, Headley, 1919). She is quite negative about her time in the Foundling Hospital. And for when it was written many of her observations are spot on. She writes about the stigma and how ‘children’s happiness and future welfare is sacrificed, even to the extent of their mother’s name, nationality – thrown in the world without a relative or friend to confide in…and have no right to the stigma attached to them.’ External Website

Actors Angela Shelton (Actor) Angela Shelton (b. 1972) is an American actor and screenwriter. She was in the foster care system as a child and in 2001 was inspired to make a documentary for which she interviewed 40 women, many of whom had experienced domestic violence. Search for Angela Shelton won 12 awards and the May of Asheville proclaimed April 29, 2005, Angela Shelton Day. Shelton's memoir about surviving sexual abuse was released in 2007. External Website

Academic Books & Book Chapters Imagining Adoption. Marianne Novy (Editor) 2001 Imagining Adoption (2001) is one of the earliest academic works to explore the representation of adoption in novels (George Elliott), children’s literature (Anne of Green Gables), contemporary fiction (Jeanette Winterson), poetry (Jacki Kay) ,and film (Losing Isaiah). The scholarly essays also explore magazine articles written by adopting mothers and newsletters produced by adoptee rights organisations. Some contributors argue that adoption affects the minds of adopted people when they write, even if they’re not writing about adoption. External Website

Television Shows Clickbait 2021 This American-Australian is a thriller revolving around the mystery of who first kidnapped physiotherapist, Nick Brewer, and who then killed him. Episode 6 'The Brother' is the story of a grieving man whose sister, feeling rejected by an online lover, has killed herself. Viewers are told that the pair grew up in the foster care system, but that detail is irrevelant to the story. External Website

Films/Videos The Missing Children 2021 A powerful documentary about an Irish scandal has won an award at the 2022 Baftas for best Specialist Factual. The Missing Children tells the story of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, which operated between 1925 and 1961. In 1975, 2 boys playing on the site discovered skeletons. There are 2 stories explored in the documentary. One is that as many as 800 children had died in the Home and been carelessly buried in the grounds. The others is that as many as 1000 children were illegally sent to the US for adoption. Survivors tell the stories - adoptees who grew up in the US, and siblings of children who died in the Home. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16022722/ External Website

Television Shows The Good Doctor 2017 The Good Doctor is an American medical drama series which stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young man with autism working as a surgical resident in a fictional hospital. Shaun and his brother ran away from home as teenagers because of their father's violence. When Steve dies, 14 year old Shaun refuses to return to his parents and goes into foster care. Eventually he lives with Dr Aaron Glassman who is an important friend and mentor for the young doctor. External Website

Films/Videos Newsies 2020 Newsies (released as The News Boys in the United Kingdom) is a 1992 American musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega in his film directing debut. Loosely based on the New York City Newsboys' (many of whom were orphans) Strike of 1899 and featuring twelve original songs by Alan Menken and an underscore by J. A. C. Redford, it stars Christian Bale, David Moscow, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret. External Website

Films/Videos Orphan 2009 Orphan is a 2009 psychological horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by David Leslie Johnson from a story by Alex Mace. The film stars Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, C. C. H. Pounder and Jimmy Bennett. The plot centers on a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious nine-year-old Russian orphan. External Website

Television Shows Revenge 2011 Based on Count of Monte Cristo, Emily Thorne (Amanda Clark) a young girl whose idyllic Hamptons childhood was shattered when her father was framed for terrorism, leading to his death and her traumatic journey through foster care, juvenile detention (where she met the real Amanda Clarke), and eventually, a new identity to enact revenge on those who wronged her. External Website

Non Fiction Trauma Proof Benjamin Perks 2025 Trauma Proof: Healing, Attachment and the Science of Prevention (2025) by Benjamin Perks who grew up in an English orphanage and now works for the UN in New York where he is the Head of Advocacy for UNICEF/ In the Introduction to Trauma Proof, Benjamin Perks writes: “Trauma Proof is a story about how we can heal from child trauma in diverse contexts and at any stage of life. It is also perhaps the first book to argue that we can prevent child maltreatment at scale through modest changes to and investments in our public health system. It argues that the pain caused by child trauma is not just an individual, it is a societal catastrophe. But it doesn’t need to be.” External Website

Writers Stieg Larsson 1954-2004 Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) was born in Skelleffehamn in the northern area of Sweden. When Stieg was a year old, his parents decided to move south to Stockholm. Because they couldn’t afford an apartment that would accommodate Stieg, they sent him to live with his maternal grandparents in Norrland. Stieg didn’t live with his parents again until 1962, by which time he was 8 years of age. As a teenager Stieg became interested in writing and was passionately interested in leftist politics. He also become a feminist through his closeness to his grandmother and by witnessing ‘friends’ gang rape a girl when he was a teenager; he did nothing to stop them. Stieg Larsson began his adult working life as a graphic designer like his father, but later became a respected journalist. He was a forthright campaigner for social justice reporting on the rise of neo-Nazis and speaking out against honour killings. In 2001 Stieg Larsson began writing fiction thinking he would have a 10-volume series and an income into retirement. By the time he contacted a publisher, Larsson had already completed 2 of what’s now known as The Millenium Trilogy—The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. The first of the trilogy was published in 2005, after Larsson died of a heart attack. External Website

Authors D Kevin De Bruyne ➝ Back to Top

Autobiography/Memoir Hand Me Down Leigh Bonheur 1972 Hand Me Down is the story of Leigh Bonheur going through the foster care system in New Zealand. The story is narrated by 'Doris'. External Website

Authors C Jack Maggs ➝ Prudence (Custard Protocol, 1 ➝ Birnam Wood ➝ Three Blind Mice ➝ Sword Catcher ➝ The Runaway ➝ The Late Show ➝ Wicked ➝ Not the Swiss Family Robinson ➝ Blacktop Wasteland ➝ The Friend in Need ➝ Wild Pork and Watercress ➝ Angel of Darkness ➝ The Professor's House ➝ The Book of Guilt ➝ Greenwood ➝ Burial of Ghosts ➝ Bosch (novel series) ➝ The Instrumentalist ➝ Leatherstocking Tales ➝ The Four Seasons: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice ➝ The Throwaway Children ➝ The Puppet Show ➝ The Alienist (Novel) ➝ My Ántonia ➝ Elephants Can Remember ➝ Mrs McGinty's dead ➝ Cradles of the Reich ➝ Resurrection Walk ➝ The Man who Made Husbands Jealous ➝ The Talented Mrs Greenway ➝ All the Sinners Bleed ➝ The Girl With No Name ➝ Born in a Burial Gown ➝ Back to Top