Adele, 69, who was sent to the Marianvale home in Newry, County Down, as a teenager after becoming pregnant, tells BBC News NI that a light must finally be shone on what happened to thousands of women in Northern Ireland.
The human rights organisation Amnesty International says there were more than a dozen motherandbaby homes and Magdalene Laundrytype institutions in Northern Ireland, with the last one closing its doors as recently as 1990.
Some former residents of the homes have long been calling for a public inquiry.
Stormontcommissioned research on such homes has been compiled by academics and the report is expected to be published on Tuesday.
A investigation into similar institutions in the Republic of Ireland prompted an apology from the government.