The Baby Scoop Era was a period in history starting after the end of World War II and ending in the early 1970s, characterized by an increased rate of pre-marital pregnancies over the preceding period, along with a higher rate of newborn adoption.
The years between 1945 and 1973 are now known as the Baby Scoop Era. At its peak in 1970, experts estimate, roughly 80 percent of infants born to single mothers were relinquished.
From 1945 to 1973, it is estimated that up to 4 million mothers in the United States had children placed for adoption, with 2 million during the 1960s alone.
As such, for unmarried pregnant white girls and women in the pre-Roe era, the main chance for attaining home and marriage rested on their acknowledging their shame and guilt, and this required relinquishing their children, wit
h more than 80% of white unwed mothers in maternity homes acting in essence as "breeders" for white, adoptive parents.
In contrast to numbers in the 1960s and 1970s, from 1989 to 1995 fewer than 1% of children born to never-married women were surrendered for adoption.
