Kerry Robertson's Story

Please don't take our baby away…

When Kerry Robertson and her fiancé, Mark McDougall emailed me through the 'sell my story' form, they were desperate. Two days before they were due to marry, their wedding was halted by social workers who claimed that Kerry was not intelligent enough to understand the wedding vows.

Their story was placed with the Daily Mail. To read their heartbreaking story in the Daily Mail click here.

Sadly, a few weeks later the couple were told by social workers that their unborn baby, due in January 2010, would be taken into care at birth.

To gain maximum exposure for their story, this time it was printed in the Sunday Mirror. The story was also picked up by several other nationals, such as the Daily Telegraph. To read it click here.

Mark and Kerry also talked about their nightmare on ITV's GMTV. See the video here.

Because they were so concerned about losing their child, the couple decided to flee Scotland to Ireland, where they felt their plight would be treated more sympathetically.

The story about them fleeing appeared in the Daily Mail. Read here >

he couple went to Ireland where baby Ben was born. But four days after his birth, social workers decided Ben could not stay with the couple. Heartbreakingly, he was removed.

The story about social workers removing their baby appeared in the Daily Mail. Read here>

Incredibly, this story gained almost 1000 comments on Mailonline where it held the top story spot for most of the day.

Thankfully, within a fortnight, baby Ben was returned to his devastated parents. It was a wonderful outcome. I wrote a follow-up story, which went over two pages of the newspaper for Mark and Kerry, again for the Daily Mail newspaper, whose readers had followed their story from the beginning. Read here>

And Mark and Kerry’s story really does have a happy ending. Having made a home for themselves in Southern Ireland, the couple now have baby Ben back. And they have also got married so Kerry is now Mrs Kerry McDougall. Ben even came to their wedding!

Their wonderful follow-up story appeared in the Mail on Sunday newspaper (read it here) over two pages.

And their story has since appeared in Reveal and Pick me Up magazines.

I will always be keeping in touch with Mark and Kerry and you can read regular updates about them and all my stories on my Featureworld sell story blog, http://www.sellyourstoryuk.com

Mark and Kerry say: "The reason we have always gone through Alison is that she has not only always done her best to protect us but has also gone the extra mile by offering us words of comfort during hard times. She is not only a publicist or journalist, but also a friend."

 

 

The latest good news!

Mark and Kerry have since had another little boy. Lochlan arrived just before Christmas 2011.

Big brother Ben is absolutely delighted with his gorgeous baby brother.

Their wonderful story was placed with the SUNDAY MIRROR as an uplifting Christmas story.

 

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If you need help getting your sensitive story into newspapers and magazines … remember...

 

• My policy is always to put interviewees and take on board how they want to sell their story first.
• I discuss selling your story with you and ensure you are happy at all times.
• I am choosy about the publicity you do. If you have a good story anyone can sell it somewhere but will you be happy? I ensure we sell your story to the right newspaper or magazine.
• I am able to protect you from making the wrong moves - for example, talking to those magazines, newspapers, or TV, which I don't feel will be beneficial to your story.
• However, as I sell stories to so many different newspapers, magazines and television companies and have such a wide range of contacts, we always have lots of choice.

If you have a delicate story to sell then email me for personal advice here (alison@featureworld.co.uk)