In recent years Angelina Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt have adopted sons Maddox and Pax Thien and daughter Zahara. All three have been adopted from different countries.

Madonna adopted her son David from Malawi and actress Meg Ryan provided a home to a little girl named Daisy whom she adopted from China.

Do the decisions that these celebrities make influence people who are also considering adoption?

Mo O'Reilly from the British Association for Adoption & Fostering said she is undecided.

"It's difficult to tell. I think if it does have an impact, is it likely to make them think about adopting from abroad rather than adopting at home, which is a shame".

She added: "I think there's quite a lot of controversy about people generally adopting from abroad and we know there's a place for that but I think I would try and encourage people to think about children in their own country first.

In any one year there are upwards of four to five thousand children needing adoption in the United Kingdom every year and we have to try and recruit new adopters who can meet that need. Sometimes we fall short on that and those children aren't able to be adopted. Which is a real shame.

I would encourage people interested in adoption to try and apply to their local council or government first. Plus, remember adoption is a legal procedure which involves going to court. Parental responsibility is transferred from the birth parents to the new adoptive parents so in every way that child becomes the legal child of this new family".

In England alone she told us that there are not enough people coming forward to adopt young children. Many prospective parents would like to adopt newborn babies but is this an unrealistic goal?

Mo said, "On the whole it's pretty unlikely but there are some categories of people where they could have a realistic chance. If they are people coming from the black and minority ethnic communities there are a good number of children who either have had two black parents or who are dual heritage and require adoptive families.

The assessment process is thorough and can last for six to eight months. At the end of the process people should have a good idea about what age of child they would be most suited to and interested in. However, it's worth mentioning that the majority of children placed for adoption are still under the age of five. They are very young children and absolutely delightful and they're in care for absolutely no fault of their own and are desperate to have a permanent family. By the time most people come to think about adoption they have either failed to conceive through fertility treatment so this may be the only route available to them".

Mo also said, "social workers also know how difficult the adoption process can be but they are there to help you. Honestly, social workers are human beings they understand that people aren't perfect, we're looking for ordinary, honest folk who have a real interest in children and who want to give their best efforts".