Lila Gladys Coolen, daughter of Salem and Bessie Coolen, was from a family with strong ties to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Prior to her marriage to William Peach Young (born January 11, 1898), Lila was a school teacher in Fox Point, Nova Scotia. William was an unordained Seventh-Day Adventist minister from Memramcook, New Brunswick.
Prior to their marriage, in 1923, William graduated from the Medical Evangelists College. He considered himself a medical missionary and was dedicated to spreading the gospel along the South Shore and at the same time caring for the sick.
The Youngs relocated to Chicago and in 1927, William graduated from the National College of Chiropractic. Also in 1927, Lila graduated from the National School of Obstetrics and Midwifery.
They returned to Nova Scotia and in 1928 established "The Life and Health Sanitarium - Where the Sick Get Well." Working out of their two-story, 4 bedroom home, barely making ends meet, Lila began delivering babies. Within a year The Ideal Maternity Home and Sanitarium, specializing in maternity services, and catering to unwed mothers came into being.
The Youngs guaranteed privacy and discretion, no publicity and a promise to protect the girls from gossip. Upon arrival, the fee, which ranged between $100 and $500, was paid. The fee was for room and board, delivery and the adoption of the baby. A layette was an extra $12 and young mothers who were struggling financially were able to work off their debt.
If a baby died at the home, there was a burial fee of $20; this fee covered a shroud that cost $5 and the remainder was given to the Youngs for their presence at the burial. The fee also included the cost of a white pine coffin with mitered corners - very smooth and always lined with satin. The "coffins" were, in fact, butterboxes obtained from a local grocer.
It would appear that the Youngs protected their interests by having the unwed mothers sign legal contracts giving William their power of attorney and authority over the babies and their adoptions. If the unwed mother did not sign the contract within 14 days of her child's birth, an added amount of $30 was charged. With average wages at the time being between $4 and $8 per week, many women were indebted to the Youngs for over $300 by the time they left.
Adoption was becoming big business in Nova Scotia. Many couples who found it impossible to adopt a child in the United States were only too happy to make generous contributions to the Youngs in return for a child. Granted, many of the children went to homes of wealth but not all adoptions were "legal."
It's likely the adoptive parents never knew whether or not their child was a separated twin or that their child had been secretly taken from it's natural mother who had been told her baby did not survive. They were forever grateful to have paid between $1,000 and $10,000 for their chosen gift.
In the mid 1940's, the fees pregnant girls paid to the Youngs for their services are estimated to have brought in $60,000 per year. However, it's plain to see that the real fortune was made from the sale of babies as it is estimated that half the babies were sold for $5,000 each. Based on the estimated number of births, that amounts to over three million dollars annually.
Their reputation grew, as did the number of births and adoptions, and the Youngs expanded their home to accomodate more pregnant girls. In 1939, with the mortgage paid off on the maternity home, they built their own home which had nine bedrooms.
Business continued to be good and in the coming years the Youngs purchased new cars, bought more land and their wealth grew as did their home. Their origianl home, once a small cottage, was now a 54 room mansion by the standards of the day, with 14 bathrooms and nine nursersies. Graced with a turret and gazebo type portoco, along with English style gardens and landscape, the Youngs were now living the high life mortgage free.
However, their life was not without its problems. In 1933, the Liberal Party came into office and Dr. Frank Roy Davis was appointed to the office of the Public Health. Dr. Davis had heard rumors about the number of baby deaths and he spent his time in office watching over the Ideal Maternity Home with a careful eye. To counter the concerns, the Youngs were forced to hire their first registered nurse that same year, however the home remained unlicensed..
In 1936, due to the death of Eva Neiforth and her baby, the Youngs were charged with two counts of manslaughter but were successful in winning the case after a three day trial. Public Health Minister, Dr. Davis, ordered the RCMP to investigate all known deaths at the Youngs; the main problem was the number of unreported deaths. Handyman Glen Shatford later admitted to burying between 100 and 125 babies in a field owned by Lila's parents, next to the Adventist cemetery near Fox Point. In one case, an unnamed infant lay for five days in the Youngs tool shed before it was buried.
Acquitted of the manslaughter charges, they were charged with fraud and remained under constant scrutiny. Still, with politicians and prominent persons having used the Young's services for many years, the "work" they were doing continued to be supported by some.
In 1940, The Maternity Boarding House Act was amended and when the Youngs applied for a license they were turned down. Five years later, they were ordered to close the Home. In spite of that order, they continued to advertise "Lovely Babies For Adoption." Dr. Davis, determined to wage war on the Home, began to research some of the adoptions. The state of New Jersey assisted in an attempt to eliminate illegal adoptions and baby smuggling. Both the US and Canada carefully watched for the unauthorized transport of babies without government approval. To circumvent the monitoring, the Youngs persuaded mothers to travel to the US with their babies. After many court appearances, numerous charges to fight and fines to be paid, the Youngs closed the Ideal Maternity Home and with the intent of opening a hotel. Unfavorable newspaper articles called attention to the Youngs as Lila did herself. She attempted to sue for slander but lost.
Their reputation had been damaged beyond repaid, they left East Chester bankrupt.
William and Lila Young had five children. Two remained in Nova Scotia, two moved to Ontario and one to the United States. A 1962 fire claimed their home, cancer claimed William several years later and Lila returned to teaching near Fox Point. She died of Leukemia at the age of 70. She was buried in a Fox Point Cemetery not far from the many Butterbox babies whose "burials" she attended for a fee of $15.00.
In 1997, friends and survivors of the Ideal Maternity Home held a memorial service was held in memory of the babies who did not survive and a monument dedicated to them. The birth families of these babies are scattered in the Canada and the US. Many mothers never searched for their babies who had been adopted by wealthy families because they were told they had died.
Information for new searchers
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Back To The Adoption Experience Homepage.
Some maternity homes operated above board, giving good care to the mothers and placing their babies in good homes. Their adoptions were legal. Others were no more than extremely profitable baby brokers, at a great expense to both the mother and the child.
Over-crowding in orphanages in the east lead to the transport of hundreds of children to the midwest. Most never saw their parents again.
Read about these trains and the agencies who provided the young travelers who rode them, carrying few belongings and not knowing where they would end up.
Registration Day (Reg Day) an annual event; it's purpose is to encourage and support. Any birth family member or adoptee can register at ISRR.net for free.
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