Andrea Smith, of Hetton Le Hole in Tyne And Wear describes how adopting two children finally made her life complete.

About five years ago, my husband and I talked about having a family.

This was not meant to be. After numerous visits to the fertility clinic, we decided to give up. This decision was not made over night; it took all our strength to face the fact that we may well never have that family we always wanted.

I would never hold my own child, never wipe away the tears of a scraped knee, never kiss goodnight a child and hear "goodnight Mummy", never hear my child call my husband Daddy.

The radio was on in the background and a few advertisements were on. One in particular stood out from the rest. It was the one from an adoption agency, wanting people who were interested in adoption to ring the number.

This question had been asked between my husband and I lots of times: "What about adoption?"

I took the number down. When Dave came in from work. We talked about it, and within 20 minutes the decision had been made, and on December 1, 1999, a social worker came.

After the New Year, we got a letter asking us to come to some preparation groups. They were in February and there were some other couples there. Each had a different story to tell as to why they were there.

We were all unique. Yet we all were there for the same reason. We all wanted a child to be part of our lives. To love, give attention and care for. But...there were some things we had to do first.	'My heart melted. He was a stunner, she was a princess'

The groups opened our eyes as to what went on with children waiting for adoption, their pasts, their families, what they wanted for their future. We all learned that each individual child has their own needs.

After the groups, we had to do a lot of things, a family tree, lots of meetings with our social worker; Dave and I even had to lose some weight. But, we were determined to get what we wanted, so we did everything that was asked of us. This took a long time, but, finally, on September 7, we went to the panel.

Carol, our social worker, represented us. Dave and I were at work and we were nervous. At 3.30pm Carol rang me. She said 'Yes' and I knew what she meant.

We had been accepted as adoptive parents. I was overjoyed. I rang Dave immediately. When he got home we celebrated. We were going to be parents. We were approved for two children up to the age of seven.

Dave and I had a holiday booked for a month in November, but, just before we went away, Carol brought us a picture and some information about two children, a boy, seven, and a girl, six. They were beautiful. They were "our" children. We knew straight away.

My heart melted. He was a stunner, so handsome, blond hair, big eyes, toothy grin, and she was a princess, long blonde hair, big, wide smile, two bottom front teeth missing, yet there was sadness in their faces. I knew these two children were meant for us.

We had our holiday and their picture came in my suitcase with us. We spent a lot of time buying things for them, clothes, toys, books, Barbie's and Action Men. We shouldn't have, as nothing had been made definite by then, but we knew at the back of our minds that these two children were ours.

On January 11, 2001, we went to a matching panel. At 3.45pm, Carol rang me. We had been matched with them, they were ours. We told all of our family.

We had been busy decorating their bedrooms, getting things ready for them. The things we brought back from America were put on the shelves, clothes were hung up, toys were "tested" before being put in toy boxes. We were ready.

We met them, after a small hiccup, on Monday, January 22, 2001. We waited in the foster parents' living room, and they came in from school. He ran upstairs, but she came over and said: "Hello Mammy, hello Daddy". I nearly cried. It was such an emotional time.

He came back downstairs and came over to us. He looked at us and said: "Hello Mam, hello Dad". I thought, God, this is strange, but if feels so right, and it feels wonderful.

My heart was lifting so high, I thought my whole head was going to burst. This was the beginning of our lives.

Mother's Day

We only had one week of introductions and it all fell into place. It was so right, they were our kids and when they came to our house for the first time, it was as if they had been there all their lives. Finally they had their forever Mam and Dad.

They came to live with us on Wednesday, January 31.

That first night was scary. They had a bath, then went to bed. Were they okay? Were they warm enough? Did they have enough to eat at teatime? I couldn't sleep that night, I was listening for them coughing, moving, anything. What did they want in the morning for breakfast?

Now, it's Mother's Day, March 25, 2001. The kids have had a bath and are now in bed, their school clothes are ready, they had enough to eat at teatime, they're happy, warm and clean.

I look at the cards on the mantle piece and I have four all together. One from my son, with a yellow flower on it. Inside he has wrote in his best writing: "I love you Mam". He made this at school.

One is from my daughter. It has red and yellow flowers on it. She has written inside: "Thank you for being my mammy." Another one is from them both together, they chose it themselves. They both signed it with lots of kisses.

The last one is from my husband. He chose it. It's a beautiful card; it has a beautiful verse. These are my first ever Mother's Day cards. Something I thought I would never get. Now, I'll get them every year.

I shed a few tears when I got them. I gave a thought for their birth mother.

'We have got our children and we wouldn't change them for the world'	She won't get any this year. Maybe she should have had these ones. They will go in our treasure box along with other things like their life storybooks, half a key ring, pictures and memories.

Their birth mother holds the other half of the key ring. I gave it to her when I met her. She was a nice person. Not the kind you would expect to meet who's given birth to your children.

When I met her, she had her own mother with her. She wanted to satisfy her curiosity, so she came to meet me. I was scared, worried and wary. There were two other social workers, the birth mother and the grandmother. I didn't feel intimidated at all.

The birth mother cried when I showed her some pictures, and she was satisfied they were in safe hands. I promised her I would look after them and take good care of them, to keep them safe and never let them forget where they came from or who they are.

I won't ever break that promise. Everybody should know who they are and where they came from.

I realised just at that meeting how hard it must have been for this woman. She had her children taken away and now she will never see them grow up. I wouldn't be without my children now. They're here to stay, and I'm happy.

It's been hard, I won't deny it. We have a few problems with our son's behaviour, but nothing we can't sort out with a little help.

He's a loving, funny, seven going on a 37-year-old boy. He gives a lot of love, and loves receiving it. He has stopped wetting the bed, and is learning to control his behaviour at school.

The last two weeks have shown a great improvement in his behaviour and attitude. He's stopped hitting his sister; he's stopped wrecking his room and his sister's room. His concentration level has improved greatly. He always has a cuddle on hand. He's becoming a mammy's boy, and he knows it.

Forever Mam and Dad

Our daughter is a madam. She's beautiful, she's lost her stammer, her speech is improving, and she wants a cuddle whenever your hands are full. She always tells us she loves us. She doesn't need her statement of special needs at school any more, and her hair is getting long and shiny.

She has her moments and her tantrums, and she is a typical six-year-old, though at times, I wonder if she's a reincarnated 60-year-old.

We are a family now, and I can honestly say we wouldn't have had it any other way. These two children have made our lives complete, and we hope we have made theirs complete, too. They have got their forever Mam and Dad, a loving, stable home and a new family.

We have got our children, and we wouldn't change them for the world. We all fitted in with each other. It's as if they are our natural children. We love them unconditionally. There's nothing we wouldn't do for them. They're not short of anything, especially love. They know that now.

We are a family.