Original sentence: In April 2009, the National Center for Health Statistics announced that nearly 40 percent of babies born in the United States in 2007 were delivered by unwed mothers, although the figure was only 28% for white women.In the United Kingdom and the United States, and even up to today, illegitimacy carried a strong social stigma.Law in many societies has denied "illegitimate" persons the same rights of inheritance as "legitimate" persons, and in some societies, even the same civil rights.Often an illegitimate child was reared by grandparents or married relatives as the "sister," "brother" or "cousin" of the unwed mother.The 1.7 million out-of-wedlock births, out of 4.3 million total births, represented a more than 25 percent jump from five years before.Unwed mothers were often encouraged, at times forced, to give their children up for adoption
Edited sentence: In April 2009, the National Center for Health Statistics announced that nearly 40 percent of babies born in the United States in 2007 were delivered by unwed mothers (though the figure was only 28% for white women).In many societies, law has denied "illegitimate" persons the same rights of inheritance as "legitimate" persons, and in some societies, even the same civil rights.In the United Kingdom and the United States, as late as the 1960s and even up to today, illegitimacy has carried social stigma.Often illegitimate children have been reared by grandparents or married relatives as the "sisters," "brothers" or "cousins" of the unwed mothers.The 1.7 million out-of-wedlock births, out of 4.3 million total births, represented a more than 25 percent jump from five years earlier.Unwed mothers have often been encouraged—at times forced—to give their children up for adoption