From a distance

Families who have adopted from abroad must struggle with the children's emotional issues after getting over the state's bureaucratic hurdles. Mary Evans reports Earlier this month, children's minister Margaret Hodge announced measures to provide prospective adopters of children with better information and support. It was the Government's latest attempt to improve the adoption process and reduce the number of children brought up in care in this country. Yet some families have preferred to adopt from overseas rather than in the UK, and the Government has also made a commitment to more than halve the time taken to process such applications.