I was single when I first adopted my two boys. I had been married but hadn't had any children. Time was marching on and the feelings of wanting a family hadn't gone away, so it was now or never. I had to try, and if it didn't work I'd know I'd given it my best shot.

I applied to my local social services, but at the time they weren't placing any children for adoption so I looked through the Yellow Pages and found Barnardo's.

After an initial visit to discuss adoption, if you're still sure you want to go ahead a social worker will then come and visit you on a weekly basis and ask lots of questions.

To begin with it's a stranger coming into your home and asking all sorts of personal questions about your life, your family, your views on bringing up children.

But once you get to know them, it's like talking to an old friend. You've got to be honest though, because you're going to be entrusted with someone's life and it has to be right for everyone.

It took eight months for me to be approved and to begin the process of matching me with a child. Initially they said I should adopt one child as I lived by myself, but as I live in a rural setting and work, I thought I should have siblings - they can entertain each other when you're cooking the tea etc.

I also thought a one adult one child relationship might be a bit intense. In the end, two brothers aged eight and ten were placed with me.

They were from central England, so to come to Anglesey was a bit of a culture shock for them. But they wanted to live in the country and have animals and room to play.

They were desperate to be wanted, to have a happy home and a family of their own and they made themselves at home from their first visit.

The boys didn't have any particular problems; it was just that their family couldn't look after them properly.

It was perhaps easier for me as a single man because I could explain that I wasn't trying to take the place of their mother. "I'm doing her job - loving you, feeding you, looking after you - but I'm not a substitute."

We maintained letterbox contact with their family and had occasional direct contact if the boys wanted it.

As they were eight and ten when they were adopted they knew they had another family, but that they couldn't look after them in the right way; it was always important to be honest about all that.

They settled down really quickly. They learnt Welsh - my eldest did all his GCSEs in Welsh and passed 11 of them. They love Anglesey and both still live at home.

I'm also a foster carer. I've got two long-term foster children who arrived when they were five and six, six years ago. I fostered them, as opposed to adopting, because you still get support from the agency and council social services as a fosterer, which is very helpful if the children have special needs.

I've fostered 26 children in all, some for much shorter periods while their families get respite care.

I don't have a job anymore, I'm at home full-time because the two boys I fostered had problems and needed more attention. They're in school now, so I use that time to sort out the house so I can spend time with them when they're home in the evenings and on weekends.

My adopted boys are brilliant with the foster children. When he's home from the Army, my eldest always plays sports with them and my youngest helps them with their homework. I built an extension on the house and we've got a few acres of land so there's enough room for us all.

I would love to have two little girls next time because it's an all-male household. I would first foster them, but if the circumstances were right, I'd adopt or become their special guardian.

This is where the carer and the birth parents take joint responsibility for the child. It has to be with a suitable family to be workable for everyone though.

If you want to adopt, you have to be pretty unshakable and stubborn - don't give in easily because it can be a difficult process. You've also got to want to do it 110 per cent because you're dealing with other people's lives.

You don't want to have to give up on the children in your care because to be moved on again would damage them even more. But if you're sure, it's a fantastic thing to do. It's definitely the best thing I've ever done.

In order to protect the children's identity, real names have not been used.