If your life is in danger right now
- Call 999 or go to your nearest A&E.
- Samaritans: 116 123, free, day or night.
- Shout: text SHOUT to 85258, free, 24/7.
- PAPYRUS HOPELINE247 (under 35s): 0800 068 4141.
- Bereaved by suicide: Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, 0300 111 5065.
For every parent suffering in silence, and in memory of those we have lost while they were fighting for their children.
Why we are counting
Parents are dying while fighting to keep or bring home their children, and parents are living with thoughts of suicide because of child removal, local authority involvement and forced adoption. Yet nobody is counting them. These numbers do not exist in any official record.
If nobody counts, nothing changes. So, with Orisha Circle CIC, we are starting to count: anonymously, safely and with respect, so that councils, services and government can no longer look away.
What the research tells us
The little research that exists points to a serious and hidden risk for parents who are separated from their children.
- 14 times more likely to die early. Women who have had children removed from their care repeatedly were found to be 14 times more likely to die prematurely, from causes including suicide. (University of Birmingham, University of Edinburgh and Pause, 2024)
- 21 times the death rate. First-time mothers in England whose children went through care proceedings died at around 21 times the rate of other mothers in the years after giving birth. (UCL, 2026)
- More than 1 in 10. Of the women who died by suicide during or after pregnancy in the UK, more than one in ten had had an infant removed into care or were going through care proceedings. (MBRRACE-UK maternal deaths reporting)
- Several times the risk of suicide. Mothers whose child was taken into care died by suicide at about 4.5 times the rate of their own sisters, and about 3.5 times the rate of other mothers known to child protection services who kept their children. (Wall-Wieler et al., Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 2018)
- Suicidal thoughts are common. In one study, about a quarter of birth parents said they had suicidal thoughts after their children were removed. Research in a Scottish alcohol and drug recovery service found that mothers who had children removed were more likely to have attempted suicide than mothers who had not. (Russell et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2022)
Researchers describe this loss as disenfranchised grief: a grief that is not openly recognised, so parents are often left to carry it alone, with shame and stigma on top. Yet there is no official national count of parents who die by suicide, or who feel suicidal, after their children are removed. That is the gap this count exists to fill.
If you are reading this and recognise yourself, you are not alone, and your life matters. Help is there right now: call Samaritans free on 116 123, or our 24-hour lines below.
Sources: University of Birmingham, 2024 · UCL, 2026 · British Journal of Midwifery on MBRRACE-UK · Wall-Wieler et al., 2018 · Russell et al., 2022. These studies show a link, not that removal alone is the cause.
There are two counts and two free 24-hour lines. Choose the one that is right for you.
ASC
Anonymous Suicide Count
For anyone who has lost someone they know, to suicide or another death, while that person was fighting for their children.
Free to call · 24 hours · Anonymous
ASSC
Anonymous Survivor Suicidal Count
For anyone who feels, or has felt, suicidal because their child has been removed, or because of local authority involvement or forced adoption. You are not alone, and your life matters.
Free to call · 24 hours · Anonymous
Prefer to write it down?
You can also be counted using the form below. Please don’t include names, addresses or anything that could identify you or anyone else. Share only what you feel able to.
The written form is not monitored around the clock. If you are in danger now, please call 999, Samaritans on 116 123, or our 24-hour lines above.
Your privacy. We do not ask for your name or contact details, and we never try to identify callers or people who use the form. What you share is used only to count and understand these experiences, and is published only as anonymous totals and themes by Orisha Circle CIC. If you include anything identifying by mistake, we will remove it.
