Adoption agency 'slams Corrie scenes'

[dutchman]

Coronation Street has been accused of frightening people away from adopting children.



An adoption agency blasted scenes which showed Steve and Becky McDonald (Simon Gregson and Katherine Kelly) face a tough meeting with an adoption panel, which ultimately led to their application being turned down.

Patricia Hurst of Caritas told the Manchester Evening News that the panel would not be as intimidating as the ITV1 soap had portrayed. She also said that issues such as the couple's smoking and Becky's miscarriage would have been dealt with beforehand.

"It was portrayed as an ambush and that is just not the case," she claimed. "People are quite anxious and vulnerable when they come before a panel and the panel knows this. They do a lot to make the experience very user-friendly. It was quite confrontational - maybe because it made good TV."

She continued: "As there are hundreds of children waiting for adoptive families in the North West alone we are concerned this may frighten people and put them off applying for adoption.

"We want to assure potential adoptive applicants that this would not happen."

A Corrie spokeswoman defended the scenes, saying: "We spoke to adoption agencies and had their full support. We have to have some dramatic licence but it was an accurate storyline."