The UK government must urgently issue a formal apology for the state’s role in forced adoption as many victims are nearing the end of their lives, a cross-party group of MPs has said.

A report from the education select committee said ministers should provide an initial commitment to an apology and begin working with survivor groups as quickly as possible on its wording.

It said a formal and public apology was essential to correct the public record and reduce the burdens felt by many mothers and adoptees.

Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and Wales owing to a culture of shame surrounding pregnancy outside marriage. Religious organisations ran most of the mother and baby homes where pregnant women were sent to give birth, while charities and local authorities were also involved in funding the placements and finding adoptive parents.

Helen Hayes MP, the chair of the education select committee, said hearing from survivors about their experiences was “one of the most moving days I have experienced in parliament”.

“Historical forced adoption practices coerced mothers and caused unimaginable trauma for multiple generations of women and profound, often devastating impacts for their children,” she said. “Our report today is unequivocal – the government must urgently offer an unqualified apology for the state’s role in shaping the forced adoption practices that harmed so many survivors.”

In 2023, the Welsh and Scottish governments formally apologised for forced adoption practices, and the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales issued an apology in 2016.

The UK government has yet to issue one, although the children’s minister, Josh MacAlister, told the committee it was “actively considering” doing so, and that it would need to be delivered by a senior member of government to reflect the gravity of the injustice.

Countries such as Ireland and Australia have introduced financial compensation schemes after apologising for the coerced removal of children from unmarried mothers.

Last year, the campaign group Movement for an Adoption Apology (MAA) said it was considering legal action because of “the UK government’s failure to provide any sort of meaningful redress or a formal apology for the abhorrent practices which it oversaw”.

The education committee concluded that although there was no single perpetrator of forced adoptions, government decisions shaped the environment in which unmarried mothers were shamed and coerced into having their children put up for adoption.

Its recommendations also included better access to records, trauma-informed healthcare for survivors and a guarantee survivors could have regular consultation with the government.

The Salvation Army and Barnardo’s gave evidence to the committee and were criticised for speaking in a way that “fell far short of acknowledging their roles in forced adoptions”, and gave the impression of justifying, rather than accepting responsibility.

The report said the charities had subsequently written to the committee to “clarify their position” but it urged them to avoid “hiding behind historical societal norms”.

They were two of a number of churches and charities that worked with social services and health services at the time to facilitate the adoptions. “It is to be hoped that any government apology encourages organisations like these to reflect on their own legacy,” the report said.

Sally Ells, 59, a cofounder of the Adult Adoptee Movement who gave evidence to the committee, said: “We need a meaningful government apology to correct the harmful narrative that has been spun that we were unwanted and that we came from unfit mothers.

“It’s acknowledging that adoption was forced and that it caused harm, and adult adoptees and mothers deserve an apology and we deserve redress.”

Ells was born and adopted in 1967, and said she was left with “an immense fear of rejection that never left”. She tracked down her biological family a few years ago, and was able to confirm it was a forced separation.

She added that the injury continued for mothers and adult adoptees, who were more likely to experience serious mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder. “There is an enduring harm. It’s not historic, it’s not in the past – it’s still happening now,” she said.

A government spokesperson said: “This abhorrent practice should never have taken place, and our deepest sympathies are with all those affected. We take this issue extremely seriously and continue to engage with those affected to provide support.”