As a prisoner, Terry then faces the harsh reality of losing her baby, but fights the system to keep her child.

Janet Maslin of The New York Times found the film a stretch: "Larry Peerce, who directed Love Child, tries for as much prison-movie stridency as the material will bear, but his portrait of Terry is so mild that the film's harsher touches seem gratuitous.

...Amy Madigan, a newcomer who plays Terry, makes her a raw-boned, angry tomboy at first; only gradually is the child-crying-out-for-help side of the character revealed.

Miss Madigan seems potentially a tough, unusual actress, but Mr. Peerce keeps her at full throttle so much of the time that the performance loses its force.

"[3] And in The Village Voice, Carrie Rickey wrote that "Love Child ... contains one gem: Amy Madigan's raw-nerve performance.