Tamar (Lommel)

Tamar was a maternity home for unmarried mothers and their children located in the Belgian city of Lommel, run by the Congregation of Kindsheid Jesu. It was established in 1970 on the attic of the Maria Middelares Hospital and moved in 1976 to its own building next to the hospital. Tamar was established to help young women who where pregnant out of wedlock. Tamar became notorious for its involvement in forced adoptions forced adoptions and unwanted sterilizations of young girls.

Tamar operated during a period in Belgium when adoption practices were often shrouded in secrecy and church-run institutions held significant influence over many aspects of society. One of the aspects of Tamar’s operations was the involvement in anonymous births in France, known as Sous X (literally "under X"), a practice that was legal in France but prohibited in Belgium. Many young women, often teenagers, were forced to travel to France to give birth anonymously. Afterward, the children were illegally brought back into Belgium and put up for adoption. This without consent from the mothers.