Women and Child Removal: A Story of Hope

I really feel something has been repaired in my soul that I didn’t know was broken. It is that feeling of wholeness and completion that I have channeled through my sewing machine and paintbrush. Each one of the artworks you’ll see in the circle is a representation of real women that I’ve met and worked with at Her Circle during my residency. It’s a representation of their stories all sort of jumbled together and the essence that I see in each of them. Each woman will tell you their truth and you are invited to tell your truth in return.

Unbroken

I wrote this poem during a two-day retreat with the women at The Barn in Easington. After just one day in their company, a flood of ideas and words came to me. The thing that struck me the most about this group of mothers is that they all carry their children with them. They have created a safe space to which they bring that love, whether they have their children still or not. The love they carry is tenacious and it finds new paths to the other women in their circle.

(Click here to listen to Harriet reading the poem)

Unveiled

Confidence is not something women acquire. Confidence is what it left when all the veils of our limiting beliefs are stripped away. We step out of the shadows and into the light, demanding to be seen, heard and respected.

Connected

Gone but not lost. A mother is still a mother, even when her children are far away or in someone else's care. Separation does not lessen this connection, removal does not dim the light and warmth emanating from a mother's heart.

Embraced

The warm embrace of a community of women cloaks and protects her. She is held and safe in their embrace. With their support, she can do anything. She can expand and be fully and boldly herself, even if the connection to her children has been severed.

Permanent

Child removal leaves a permanent stain on the soul. Even those who regain contact or still have a caring role in their children's lives carry the scars. It becomes part of the mother, something she must bear and be forever changed by.

Renewed

After every challenge there is always regrowth. Every test we face creates progress and a cycle of renewal. In the wake of each mother blooms the seeds she has sown. She stands defiant in her garden of wonder, challenging you to say she is anything but magnificent.