'If you remove a baby, what does the forlorn mother do next? Go and have another'

'If you remove a baby, what does the forlorn mother do next? Go and have another'

A teenage girl in an anorak with a round puppy-fat face and a ponytail sits in a small courtroom with her social worker. Around her is a posse of dark-suited lawyers and ahead, a bench of three magistrates. Sharon has learning disabilities. Her mother is seriously mentally ill and her father isn't even mentioned. The court is gathered to hear an application for a care order (which allows a child to be removed from its parents and given into the care of the local authority). The order is not for Sharon - it is for her one-week-old baby. Sharon is 17 and already in care.