My first daughter was taken from me at 18, but I never gave up hope of meeting her again

My first daughter was taken from me at 18, but I never gave up hope of meeting her again

My first daughter was taken for adoption just a few days after I gave birth to her in 1975.

I had become pregnant aged just shy of 18. And like most of my contemporaries, I had been blissfully ignorant about even the basic facts of reproduction and had no access to contraception.