FINDING suitable people capable of adopting or fostering children is a far from easy task.

It represents a huge commitment and it can never be entered into without extremely careful consideration on both sides.

In publishing our front page story today, we are aware of the danger that it may make some people think again about adopting children.

But we also believe it is important to underline the need to ensure that adequate support is provided to those people who come forward to adopt and foster vulnerable children.

Our story highlights the disturbing case of a Darlington couple who say they are trapped in a Catch 22 situation over the ten-year-old boy they have adopted.

The boy has had to be placed with an emergency foster parent because he suffers from a rare condition which makes him violent.

His adoptive parents love him but are afraid to have him back in their home unless he gets special residential care to cure his condition.

The couple claim that the boy is not getting the therapy he needs because the NHS and Darlington Social Services cannot agree who is responsible for paying for the treatment.

It is our sincere hope that a way forward can be found to enable the couple to go on caring for the boy in question.

But in a wider context, it is a cause of great concern that Adoption UK, which represents the parents of adopted children, considers a lack of support to be “all too common”.

Whether it is fact or perception, it is a problem which clearly needs urgent attention.