Journey To A Family: The agonies and ecstasies of building a family through inter-country adoption

My story starts with my younger daughter dropping a bombshell, meaning she has the biggest decision to make of her life so far. This arouses memories for me of 21 years earlier, in the mid 1980's.

We had recently moved to Scotland intending to turn the big old dilapidated house we'd fallen for into a B& B and a home for the three or four children we hoped to have but one day the dream was shattered.

Without any of the benefits of modern technology, we had to try to rebuild it using yellow pages, numerous telephone calls, letters, networking and a journey almost half way across the world.

It also included experimental fertility treatment, unhelpful adoption agencies, a TV programme, offers of help from dubious South American lawyers, red tape, unknown immigration issues and a number of unexpected twists.