“My Name is Joan” tells the story of Susan Drew, a woman who was born Joan Fagan to an unwed mother in the St. Patrick Mother and Baby Home in Dublin, Ireland in 1949. While the documentary chronicles Susan’s journey to find her true identity, it also highlights the illegal exporting of children by the Catholic Church to families in other countries for profit while the Irish Government looked the other way. The Irish Government still denies adopted children access to their information even though forced adoption affects at least a quarter of the Irish population. In 2015, an inquiry into Mother and Baby Homes was launched and the results are due out in 2018. Many believe the inquiry will not shed light on what really happened to mothers and their children in these homes, and the Government is dragging their feet and hoping the issue will die as the people who were directly affected or engineered the illegal adoptions die.

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• Film Type:

  Documentary, Short
• Runtime:

  29 minutes 35 seconds
• Completion Date:

  September 30, 2016
• Production Budget:

  25,000 USD
• Country of Origin:

  United States
• Country of Filming:

  Ireland, United States
• Film Language:

  English
• Shooting Format:

  HDCAM
• Aspect Ratio:

  16.9
• Film Color:

  Color