Description

This book tells the dark story of a maternity hospital in Nova Scotia that was owned and operated by a couple William Young and his wife Lila Young. Their business has become known as the ideal maternity home and they charged extremely high prices. Women in this region were earning about $ 8 a week at the time and had no choice but to work for the Youngs until they were able to pay their bills.
Legal contracts have been signed by single mothers, giving the Youngs legal authority over their children and adoptions. As at that time, there was no adoption procedure legalized in religious circles by the laws of the United States, thus leaving many Jewish families with no further adoption options.
It was then discovered that the Youngs would deliberately starve the "unmarketable" children by feeding them only molasses and water, the children usually only lasted two weeks. Dead children were thrown into small wooden grocery boxes, usually used for dairy products. Hence the name Butterbox Babies. The children were buried on the property, next to a nearby cemetery, at sea, or sometimes burned in a furnace. While at least a thousand more survived and were adopted, the lucky survivors often suffered from illnesses caused by unsanitary conditions and lack of proper care.