Taken Not Given is a reminder of a Parliamentary apology, and a public recognition of the hurt caused by forced adoptions.
The sculpture is by Melbourne-based artist Anne Ross. It was commissioned by the Victorian Parliament after its apology for forced adoption practices following the 2012 Commonwealth Senate Inquiry into forced adoption policies and practices.
The monument was unveiled on 26 October 2018 on a small quiet triangle of garden beside the government buildings and opposite Fitzroy Gardens.
It is estimated that 250,000 Australians were affected by policies and practices of forced adoption, with most adoptions occurring between 1950 and 1975. Unmarried mothers were pressured or coerced to give up their children rather than bear the shame and social stigma of pregnancy and birth outside marriage.
