In 1982, she and her husband, a Catholic deacon, founded St. Catherine of Genoa Parish House, a Far South Side shelter that can house about 16 pregnant women. I expected that this would bean emotionally charged subject, but I was unprepared for the numerousstories of despair. 402.502.9224. INo information on childbirth. A historian uncovered some of their stories. 1988, with another man than my biological father. This meant that these locales had to pay monthly fines to the city to continue operation. Terrified and in denial, she hid her growing body under an oversized sweater for five months. The question of not having open adoption records is a difficult one however I believe that it is the right of children to know whom their parents are, the children as well as the mothers are being traumatized again. This is equivalent . Once their infants were born, every mother was given the choice to keep their child with assistance from staff at the home for the next three to four months or to place their child up for adoption. Teenagers who go to the Madonna/St. I am also the mother of an adoptive son in 1977. JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. I was only 17 years old when my . Instead of helping my experience it brings me sadness and hate toward everyone who was involved including the church who ran it. I hope we will correspond again. ''Many of our women have had multiple abortions. There are no religious requirements at Madonna/St. Follow this emotional story as the History Detectives head to. I spent from Sept 76-dec 76 in a unwed mothers home in Calgary Alberta Canada. It is so important that these stories are known widely and not forgotten. In the 1960s, a group of unwed mothers wrestled with their decisions to give birth in secret at St. Paul, Minnesotas Booth Memorial Hospital. There, she was known as Karen No. Maureen Paton hears their stories . Whatever the reasons for the choices of the responsible adults and authorities, they are inadequate in light of the suffering expressed by women who have shared your and your mothers experience. wow I almost feel ashamed to be estranged from my mother given all that she must have endured being a 14yr old unwed mother. Shame delivered daily. The institution will operate on the same .