We're LATER LIFE MUMS

We speak to two women about their journeys to motherhood

- KIM WILLIS

‘SHE’S BEEN BY MY SIDE FOR EVERY ADVENTURE’

Margaret Reynolds, 63, adopted Lucy when she was 51 and Lucy was six. They live in the Cotswolds. 

I was in my 40s when a moment in a restaurant sparked my journey to motherhood. On holiday in Sicily, I was watching a little boy interact with a waiter, his mother looking on proudly. I felt a longing for a child to accompany me on life’s adventure. I’d been married to a man for 10 years before having a 12-year relationship with a woman. By this time I was single, and a biological child was an impossibility, as I’d been through menopause, but I felt there was a child in the world who needed me.

I was inspired to adopt from China, as friends had, but after 18 months of interviews and references, a panel denied my application after finding a reference online to my previous same-sex relationship, barring me from adopting from China. I was devastated but determined, starting the process again.

There were more false starts and rejections. My sixth application, to an independent adoption agency in the UK, was accepted. By then I was 51, which meant I could not be matched with a baby. I realised that an older child would have experienced pain and rejection. I vowed to accept and love my future child.