Half a century on she and thousands of other Victorian women will soon be able to claim compensation for having their babies forcibly adopted.
The Victorian government on Thursday committed to create Australia's first forced adoption redress scheme, a key recommendation from last year's report into the widespread practice that took place from 1958 to 1984.
In that time, almost 40,000 adoptions were arranged across the state and included mothers being restrained when giving birth, immediately separated from newborns against their will and pressured or coerced into signing consent forms.
Ms Fraser was 17 when her son was taken from her in 1971 and she did not confront the issue until having her second son 16 years later.
"I went around the community as if I wasn't a mother," she told reporters.
"There was no way of telling anybody that because it was a deep, dark secret."
She said the incoming redress scheme would make an "enormous" difference to lifting women out of poverty and addressing mental health issues stemming from their trauma.
A model for the scheme will be created by a steering committee within 12 months. It is not yet known how much it will cost, or how many women could be compensated.
In the meantime, a $500,000 hardship fund will provide payments of up to $10,000 for mothers of forced adoptions facing exceptional circumstances.
Other cash from the $4 million package will immediately go towards providing crisis counselling, as well as optional integrated birth certificates to include the names of the adopted person's natural and adoptive parents.
Ms Fraser does not expect all women will seek financial compensation but said the offer was an important acknowledgement, following on from the state government's formal apology for past adoption practices a decade ago.
"It could be said 'how much is my son worth?'. As far as I'm concerned, there is not enough money on this earth," she said.
Premier Daniel Andrews echoed that no amount of money would take away the pain and grief experienced by women like Ms Fraser.
"We can't undo what was done, but we can recognise the harm that was caused and provide meaningful support," he told reporters on Thursday.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said women who had their babies taken away from them will not have to provide their own records, with the Department of Justice to seek information when they make a claim.
"The mere non-existence of a record is not a denial of the fact that this happened to someone," Ms Symes said.
The scheme will initially only extend to mothers, not children or fathers.
Ms Symes said mothers were the government's primary concern but the steering committee would consider the fallout of the practices on others.
In addition, the Victorian government has committed to remove the statute of limitations for historical forced adoption and Ms Symes said it will advance legislation in the coming year.
Of the inquiry's 56 recommendations, 33 were supported or supported in principle and the 23 others remain under consideration.
Some reforms have already been implemented, including centralised adoption services, retention of birth certificates, management of adoption records and data publication.
In 2012, then Victorian Liberal premier Ted Ballieu formally apologised for the state's past adoption practices.
20°C