I 50 år har irske Philomena båret på en tung hemmelighed. Som teenager fødte hun en søn, som den katolske kirke tvang hende til at bortadoptere. En dag møder hun den desillusionerede journalist Martin Sixsmith, der fascineres af hendes historie. Sammen begiver det umage par sig ud på en bevægende rejse for at finde ud af, hvad der blev af Philomena's søn.

En mor efterlader sit nyfødte barn i en limousine. På en seddel bønfalder hun ejeren om at tage sig af drengen. Men bilen bliver stjålet at tyve, der smider barnet i skraldespanden. Heldigvis finder en vagabond den lille dreng, som han tager til sig. Fem år senere er moderen på den grønne gren som operasangerinde, og hun sætter sig for at finde sin søn.

A free-spirited single mother forms a connection with the wedded headmaster of an Episcopalian boarding school in Monterey, California.

A day in the maternity ward from the lens of accepted morals and medical attitudes of 1932. The ward includes women from all walks of life and situations.

A young man finds himself attracted to a cold and unfeeling waitress who may ultimately destroy them both.

A doctor's marriage to a single mother comes unravelled.

A fast-talking reporter befriends a young woman and her male companion who are wanted for a policeman's shooting.

A small town politician, kept from marrying the love of his life, eventually marries another woman and his career ascends, but he secretly continues the relationship with his true love.

A rural Maine farmer fights for custody of the boy who he's raised as his own.

One woman faces many trials on the road to romance after unwittingly marrying a bigamist, then a carnival's barker and then falling for a young engineer.

In this Crime Does Not Pay series short, a young woman wants to save her baby, but is afraid of telling her parents and has no money to pay the hospital costs involved. She falls prey to a baby-for-sale racket with quack doctors performing their services.

Alberto Robles, a young doctor, is faced with the decision to surrender to a life full of comforts and luxuries or to continue dedicating himself body and soul to serving those who need it most.

An unmarried actress in Munich becomes pregnant but decides against marrying the child's father, and eventually moves in with a more agreeable man she meets on a winter sports holiday.