His fifth birthday marked a particularly low point for her.

She had gone with her mother to meet a social worker in a car park, from where the pair expected to be driven to see the boy at a contact centre. But on arriving, Mrs W was told she was barred from seeing him because approval had only been given to her mother. "I was left on my own in this empty car park. I was in bits," she explains. "L was so upset, asking my mother where I was and why I hadn't been there for his birthday."