A MOTHER and daughter from Cardigan each share their side of their adoption story, charting the difficult journey from a Chinese orphanage to a loving family home in the recently published book ‘Two Voices, One Story’.

When Amy Masters was found in 1998, no one knew anything about her. From the identity of her parents to the actual date of her birth, she was a mystery.

All that was known was that she had been discovered outside of the gates of the Tong Ling Welfare Centre where doctors estimated she was about six weeks old.

After spending more than a year at the centre, Amy was adopted by a family from the UK who had navigated their own enduring months-long process through the complex foreign adoption system in order to find her.

In ‘Two Voices, One Story’ by Elaine Rizzo and Amy Masters, mother and daughter are both given the chance to tell the story of how they became a family.

Beginning before Amy was even born, ‘Two Voices, One Story’ details how her parents, Elaine and Lee, came to adopt her, exploring infertility and their own struggle to start a family before deciding to adopt.

The couple immersed themselves into the overseas adoption process before they embarked on their journey to bring their daughter home with them.

The story continues with Amy’s own narrative, including the few details she actually knows — and some speculation on her part to fill in the gaps — about how she came to be living in an institute in mainland China as a very young baby, charting her childhood in England and her adolescence in Wales when the family moved to Cardigan, culminating just before her 18th birthday.

Amy is now 18 and at college. She enjoys art and design and her ambition is to become a photographer when she graduates

Amy and Elaine, who works in finance for a company based in Manchester, give their own unique take on the emotional adoption rollercoaster; their honesty and determination to be a family is moving, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting.

‘Two Voices, One Story’ reveals the deepest thoughts and feelings of a parent who travelled the world to find her child, a daughter who has made a life for herself in a new country and culture, and the modern family they have created together will inspire readers.

‘Two Voices, One Story’ by Elaine Rizzo and Amy Masters (published by Clink Street Publishing) is available to buy online from retailers including amazon.co.uk and can be ordered from all good bookstores.