NEWS COMMENT: Giving a child all the love a family has to bestow...

For a lot of people, the process of adoption has somehow seemed shrouded in mystery.

Are there age limits? Can you adopt more than one child? What happens if the child you want to give a new home to has a brother or sister or both - can you take them too?

So, it's heartening to know that all these questions are being asked and answered to allow children to be given a fresh start in life and taken into a genuinely loving home.

A couple from Portsmouth in their 40s have adopted two lads and when they started their enquiries, the council said it had a real need for prospective '˜new parents' willing to take '˜groups of brothers and sisters'.

So the couple (known as Jo and Bill) have given two boys a bright new future.

Of course, they said the whole process took about nine months and it was quite nerve-wracking at times but then again, they acknowledge the necessity for the most stringent of checks to ensure the children are going to a good home and safeguard their future.

  Now the couple regularly attend events for Portsmouth City Council to talk to people considering adoption.On the flip side, it must be difficult for a child, no matter what age, to find themselves in new, permanent surroundings after, say, being looked after by different sets of foster parents.

B ut it's good to know there are lots of people willing to take that step and offer a roof over their head and create a real family bond.

As Jo said: '˜When you adopt siblings, suddenly we had the family we had wanted for so long.' 

So, it is to be hoped that during this week many more children will be given a lo ving and permanent new home.