Single parent Karen Barrett, 48, had already brought up two children of her own when she discovered the joy of adopting.

One of a growing number of sole carers now entering the adoption process, she had been a successful foster parent for 16 years when she met a child she just didn't want to give back.

She explained: "Jamilla was placed in my foster care when she was just 21 hours old and four months later doctors discovered she was suffering from liver cancer.

"By that time I had become so attached to her that I couldn't bear to give her up and decided to apply for adoption."

Despite her background in fostering, Karen still had to undergo the same rigorous vetting procedures as everyone else.

She said: "It is a tough process but it's only right that it should be like that and when I adopted Jamilla at 17 months old it was well worth the effort."

Karen says that her single parent status wasn't a problem for family placement.

"They recognised that I was as well equipped as any couple ­ I had brought up two healthy children of my own and was more than capable of providing a safe home for adopted children."

Asked whether she ever found the assessment too tough to handle, being on her own, she said: "Like anyone else the process sometimes got me down.
"There was lots of vetting and often waiting around for things to happen, but I had lots of support from my social worker and my friends and family too and when Jamilla became mine it was all worth it - it was wonderful."

Karen has enjoyed such success with Jamilla, who is now eight years old and responding well to hospital treatment, that she is in the process of adopting another little girl, aged four.

She explained: "This little girl comes from a very poor background and at the moment she's is in the middle of a 13-week stay with me until I am given a court date to apply to officially adopt her.

"She has really come on since she arrived. She started out being very quiet but now makes everyone laugh and is really adorable."

Like the Hubeys, Karen is also full of praise for Swindon's family placement team. "Throughout all of this, Graham Senior and his team at Swindon Social Services have been absolutely brilliant, offering me the support I need and recognising that I have lots of love to give these children.

"It's only right that single people should be able to adopt and I would recommend it to anyone who, like me, has lots of love to give."

Used courtesy of the Evening Advertiser