Butter Box Babies

Expose

By 1934, many people started taking an interest in the Ideal Maternity Home. The Nova Scotia Department of Public Welfare gathered evidence against the Youngs but was unable to shut down their business. After many charges & unsuccessful investigations, in 1946, Montreal Newspaper ran an article exposing the couple’s maternity home as the ruthless, mercenary operation that it was.

The expose highlighted the home’s questionable medical care, the Youngs’ international child trafficking business, and the killing of butterbox babies. The couple tried to sue the local newspaper for defamation but their case was dismissed and so the Ideal Maternity Home was shut down.

Although some butterbox corpses were eventually discovered, it was almost impossible to prove their cause of death, which meant William & Lila Young walked out charge-free despite the heinous atrocities they committed.