We know best - now go away!

There was a time - many, many years ago - when, if you wanted to put your baby up for adoption, you could choose the couple you wished to adopt it. They would still have to be vetted by the Local Authority, but the choice was yours, if you wished to make it. But then the Government of the day decided that these "private adoptions" should be banned, and that Social Services should be the people to decide who should adopt your baby, and your views and wishes should be disregarded. Why have I been reminded of this? Well, there's a story in the papers about a woman who badly needs a kidney transplant. Her daughter had made it clear that she was willing to be a donor. Then the daughter - tragically and unexpectedly - died. Although there was no formal record of the daughter's wishes, everybody connected knew that she would have wanted one of her kidneys to be used for her mother. But no - the powers that be decided to use them elsewhere. Arrogance? Insensitivity? Callousness? Pick your own word.