DOTING parents Sonal and Hiten Thaker finally have a baby to treasure after eight miscarriages in 12 years.

The couple endured four failed attempts at fertility treatment and lost twins who were nearly full term.

After exhausting the possibility of having a baby naturally, the couple decided to adopt.

And the happy couple have finally succeeded in adopting Satarra, a baby girl who was abandoned in India.

Mr Thaker, a 38-year-old radiographer, and his wife, 42, a specialist registrar in infectious diseases, have brought the eight-month-old home to Gosforth, north of Newcastle.

Mr Thaker said: "The first time we saw her was in an orphanage in India, when she was five weeks old. As soon as we looked into her eyes we fell in love with her in an instant, she was so beautiful.

"It was then that we realised that no matter what happened and how many hurdles were put in our way we had to bring her home."

Satarra was abandoned at birth by an unmarried mother and left at an orphanage run by nuns in the poverty-stricken region of Gujurat, in western India.

Mrs Thaker said: "When I was in India to sort out the adoption I got typhoid and a soaring temperature and was very ill.

"Satarra has made our lives complete and although it has been worth it for us we would advise people only to adopt from a country they know."

Newcastle City Council social services staff were unable to help them, so they asked a neighbouring authority, Hartlepool, where the social services department helped them through the mountain of paperwork