Leigh Sinton woman wins fight to adopt Ugandan boy

A woman has won a three-year legal battle to adopt a four-year-old boy in Uganda.

Emilie Larter, 27, from Worcestershire, was volunteering for a children's charity in the African country in 2014 when she took care of a baby whose mother had died.

Ms Larter, from Leigh Sinton, now hopes to bring the boy, called Adam, back with her to live in the UK.

But she said it could be months before that happens.

A judge in Uganda ruled she can adopt Adam, although Ms Larter said she still needed to get him a passport and apply for a UK visa.

She said she was "very, very happy, but probably mostly relieved" following the news.

"Obviously it's been really tough at times, but giving up hasn't been something I've considered, because I couldn't carry on without Adam."

Adam's mother died soon after giving birth and Ms Larter first held him in her arms when he was five days old, becoming the baby's sole carer.

For two years she visited Adam while working in a teaching job in the UK, but she moved back to Uganda in 2016 after finding work at an international school.

Ms Larter said: "It's going to be really hard to leave here now... But I hope to go home first and get a good job.

"The ideal plan would be to have a life in both countries, but that would be very dependent on what kind of job I was able to get."

Asked how she felt about parting him from seven brothers and sisters in Uganda, she said: "As he gets a little bit older, I would really like to leave it up to him.

"But I would... encourage a relationship with them."

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