Will You Love Me?: The story of my adopted daughter Lucy

‘This may be nothing,’ she began, as many callers to the duty social worker do. ‘My name is Mrs Patel, I’m the chemist at 137 High Street. I’ve just served a young woman with a sick baby and I’m concerned. Is it possible for someone to check on her? I have an address.’

And that was the first time Lucy came to the notice of the social services – as a six-month-old baby with an address but no name.