Adopting a daughter enriched our lives... now she’s adopted a baby boy too and I’m so proud
are you on about? It’s obvious you’re crazy about this baby. I’ll be on the next plane.’ He knew I was trying to say, ‘We’ve got to have her.’”
Li-Da’s foster carer warned Prue the baby hated men. But as soon as Rayne arrived to meet Li-Da, she walked straight into his arms. “Of course, he fell in love with her too,” said Prue.
Her next worry was Daniel might not take kindly to being usurped by a girl who could run faster to her arms. She said: “Daniel was a lazy baby who hadn’t crawled yet. He was a fat little thing. “But as soon as he saw Li-Da run to me, he had competition, forgot about trying to walk and got up and ran. “From the beginning, they adored each other. They had a special baby language only they understood and Daniel could make Li-Da laugh until she rocked and fell backwards. “They are different in every way: Li-Da is philosophical, organised, sensible and Daniel is chaotic but very clever. They’d never have chosen each other as friends but are devoted to each other.” The problem of taking Li-Da to England from France, where adoption was not legal for anyone under 40, was solved when Prue burst into tears at the British consul. Hasty calls were made to the Home Office and a visa issued.
Li-Da is left with endless unanswered questions about her birth parents and rescue. But, despite psychologists telling Prue she would probably go off the rails as a teen due to her traumatic start, she never did.
Li-Da said: “I did that classic thing adopted children do of always being good because they’re so grateful.”
While Li-Da always intended to follow her’s mum’s example by adopting a child, the process was bumpier and longer for her.
She said: “I had such a happy childhood I wanted to follow my mum and dad’s model.
“I knew I would love an adopted child because of the love I have for my mum, and she’s not blood. But when I met my husband Matt, he wanted to have our own child. Two weeks after we decided to try, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.”
Li-Da froze her eggs before radiotherapy and chemo. She emerged cancer-free but then endured IVF and a miscarriage, which left her emotionally and physically wrung-out. Li-Da and Matt, both filmmakers, became more determined to adopt.
But the process, which they entered here and in America, had just as many tense waits and letdowns as fertility treatment and took four years.
In the end, she used adoption agency IAC to match her with her son. She had wanted to adopt a baby from Cambodia but was told she would have to stay there for two years.
Li-Da said: “Adoption of two children fell through before we were given our son. Each time we were devastated – so much so Matt said he wasn’t sure if we could carry on. We’re so glad we did. As soon as we met our son, the love we felt was immediate.”
Prue and Li-Da wanted to share their story to mark National Adoption Week. Prue, who married second hubby John Playfair in 2016, said: “Li-Da enriched my life amazingly. She was a lovely child, an amazing woman – so kind and generous with an instinct to do good. There’s not a mean bone in her body, she’s not self seeking, not an egotist – not all the things her mother is.
“John thinks she’s the nicest person he knows. Now she has brought a gorgeous little boy into our lives and I feel so lucky. Without doubt, adopting Li-Da was the best decision of my life.