This Is Where You Have To Go

150,000 adoptions took place in Australia between 1950 and 1975. It is estimated that one in 15 was forced. Proud Dhunghutti woman, laywer, human rights advocate and former midwife Lynda Holden tells her own heartbreaking story and of her fight for justice.

In 1970, Lynda was eighteen, unmarried and pregnant when she was forced to give her baby up for adoption. She was sent by a doctor to a Catholic girls’ home for unmarried mothers, and told she’d have no hope of keeping her child because she was Aboriginal.

After twenty-six years, Lynda was finally able to make contact with her lost son – but the much wished for reunion didn’t go well. When she looked into the adoption records, she found a web of lies – lies about her family, the baby’s father, her ‘consent’ for the adoption – and her Indigenous heritage had been completely erased.

So began a quest for justice: Lynda took on the Catholic Church in an attempt to right the wrongs of the past. In this incredibly powerful memoir, she sheds light on the lasting impacts of forced adoption on mothers, children and their families, and gives voice to the countless women who have been silenced for generations.

About the Authors

Lynda Holden, or Aunty Lynda as she is known to many in her community, is a proud Dhungutti woman who is deeply passionate about social justice and human rights. She has dedicated her life to her family and community. Lynda has worked in nursing, midwifery, mental health, human rights, law and social justice, and actively advocates for Aboriginal peoples in these disciplines. She holds qualifications in nursing, midwifery and law, and has taught in all of these areas.

Jo Tuscano is the co-author of Back on the Block, the story of Bill Simon, a Biripi man, member of the Stolen Generations and an inmate of the notorious Kinchella Boys Home.