Butterbox babies was a term used to describe the infants and young children who were subjected to abuse and neglect at the Ideal Maternity Home, also known as the Butterbox Baby Home, in East Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada during the 1930s and 1940s. The home was operated by William and Lila Young, who claimed to be providing a safe and nurturing environment for pregnant women and their children. However, the reality was far from this.
The Youngs operated the home as a profit-making venture, and they did not prioritize the well-being of the mothers and children in their care. Many of the women who stayed at the home were young, unmarried, and socially marginalized, and they were often forced to give up their children for adoption. The Youngs routinely lied to these women about the condition of their children and their chances of adopting them back, and they also pressured them into signing over their parental rights.
The conditions at the Butterbox Baby Home were abysmal. The infants and young children were often malnourished and severely neglected, and they were housed in cramped, unsanitary conditions. Many of them died from malnutrition, dehydration, and other preventable causes. The Youngs also routinely lied to the authorities about the number of deaths at the home and buried the bodies in shallow graves on the property.
The abuse and neglect at the Butterbox Baby Home was only uncovered in the late 1940s, when a former employee came forward with information about the conditions at the home. The Youngs were charged with manslaughter and were eventually sentenced to life in prison. However, they only served a few years before being released on parole.
The Butterbox Baby Home scandal was a shocking and tragic reminder of the importance of protecting the most vulnerable members of society. It highlights the need for better oversight and regulation of institutions that are responsible for the care of children and the need to hold those who abuse and neglect children accountable for their actions. It is also a reminder of the importance of advocating for the rights of marginalized and disadvantaged groups, particularly women and children, who are often the victims of abuse and neglect.
Butterbox Babies DVD
They continued to operate while they appealed. After numerous charges, and some unsuccessful court appearances, fines, etc. To keep creating new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help the Murderpedia project stay alive. . They went home empty-handed and broken-hearted. This dark chapter in Canadian history has been documented in several books, plays and a movie. The Home was growing in reputation and with that the number of births and adoptions.
'The Child Remains': The true story behind the 'Butterbox Babies' who were sold, starved to death in a maternity home
Those were crippling prices for the 1920s. She could strike terror into people. The Story of the Killing of Innocent Canadian Children Life After the Ideal Maternity Home Since the 1992 publication of Butterbox Babies, the Ideal Maternity Home in Chester, Nova Scotia, has become synonymous with illegal adoptions and suspicious baby deaths. They were, simply put, at the right place at the right time. How many more babies died after that? No one dared challenge her. There was an acute shortage of babies available for Jewish couples to adopt.
Where to stream Butterbox Babies (1995) online? Comparing 50+ Streaming Services
Any baby deemed "unadoptable" due to physical or mental handicaps was allegedly starved to death on a diet of only molasses and water. Cahill's 1992 book called them the "Butterbox Babies," a name with which adoptee Ilene Seifer Steinhauer, 52, of Shrewsbury readily identifies. William, drinking heavily by now, was later convicted of perjury based on his testimony at the June trial, but babies were still being born at Ideal Maternity in early 1947. William died of cancer several years later and Lila died at the age of 70 of leukemia. But what became of the children who were adopted? And the Youngs knew exactly which prominent citizens had used their services and lobbied this knowledge into support for their cause.
Lila Gladys Young
On top of that, donations were demanded and expected. . Lila Young decided which babies to sacrifice in the name of cost-cutting. It is also the moving story of children who survived the Ideal Maternity Home and their search for a past. The Youngs were willing to disregard the "unbreakable" rule of that era followed by American and Canadian adoption agencies: that children must be placed with a family of the same religious background, Balcom said. I mean Robert William Pickton, need I say more? One problem, of course, was the issue of unreported infant deaths.
Butterbox Babies
The seamen trying to make the most of their time on land would end up leaving many women pregnant and the Home was almost the only place that could give them these new mothers services they needed. Bob Hartlen is one of many who share for the first time their struggle with their unknown or unknowable past. William was an unordained Seventh-day Adventist minister from Memramcook, New Brunswick. Clients flocked to the home in response to newspaper advertisements that read: IDEAL MATERNITY HOME Mothers Refuge also department for girls. CBC Documentary CBC , Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's national TV network, owned by the Government of Canada did a documentary about the Butterbox babies and the "Ideal maternity Home. Here we share in their most private memories and experiences; the painful struggles to come to terms with being adopted, the epic searches to find birth families, and the heartening sense of a surrogate family many adoptees found in fellow Survivors.
Butter Box Babies
If the money can be raised, survivors from Nova Scotia intend to come to Rutgers University to present a play, "Aftermath," depicting the events at the Home, said Robert Hartlen, spokesman Survivors and Friends of the Ideal Maternity Home. Placing advertisements that promised to shield pregnant girls and women from gossip, i. A group of the Survivors of the Ideal Maternity Home, now scattered throughout the U. Two of their five children moved to Sudbury Ontario, one to the U. The Ideal Maternity Home promised both maternity care for local married couples and discreet birthing and placement for children of unwed mothers. We buried them in rows, he said, so it was easy to see how many there were. They put it on their letterhead! After several additions and expansions, the cottage they started with in 1928 was now a huge structure with 54 rooms and 14 bathrooms.
The Butterbox Babies
Both American and Canadian adoption agencies at the time had an unbreakable rule that babies must be placed with a family of the same religious background. If you have a news scoop or an interesting story for us, please reach out to us at 323 421-7514 MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. The adoptive couples would finally have the babies of their dreams. Was the high infant mortality rate at the Home coincidence, neglect, accident, or economics? Now, Saia and as many as 40 other adoptees living in the U. He heard some of the gossip regarding baby deaths at the Home, and for the next 15 years that he spent in office, he proved to be an enormous thorn in the Young's business lives.
