https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509032/Mother-mild-learning-difficulties-fears-sons-taken-away.html'Too stupid to marry' mum fears sons will be taken away: Woman who fled to Ireland faces investigation after she returns home
Social workers told Kerry McDougall, 21, who suffers from mild learning difficulties, she was not intelligent enough to be a mother four years ago
She ran away to Ireland with her fiancé Mark when she was eight months pregnant because she feared their son would be taken into care
Mother-of-two returned to Scotland as she was missing family and friends
Family received letter from Fife Social Services summoning them to a meeting with social workers, doctors and other child experts next week
She believes officials will take her two young sons Ben and Lochlan from her
By Alison Smith Squire for MailOnline
Published: 00:49, 18 November 2013 | Updated: 09:33, 18 November 2013
She fled Scotland four years ago after social workers dismissed her as not intelligent enough to get married, let alone become a mother. But now Kerry McDougall has returned home and is facing an investigation by officials who, she believes, will decide if her two young sons should be taken from her. The 21-year-old, who has mild learning difficulties, ran away to Ireland with her fiancé Mark when she was eight months pregnant because she feared their son would be taken into care immediately after his birth. Their baby, Ben, was born in January 2010 and the couple went on to wed and have another son, Lochlan, two years ago. Despite being classed as fit parents by social services in Ireland, they missed family and friends in Dunfermline, Fife, and two weeks ago, they returned to Scotland. The McDougalls believed that the authorities would no longer be interested in them. Last night, however, they told how social workers visited the family only days after their arrival to say they were reopening proceedings to decide if the boys should be placed under a protection order. On Saturday, they received a letter from Fife Social Services summoning them to a meeting with a panel of social workers, doctors and other child experts next week. Mr McDougall, 30, said: ‘It is talking about a “protection case conference”. It is a very formal letter and feels threatening. Kerry and I are extremely nervous and very worried. Yes, Kerry has mild learning difficulties but they don’t stop her from being a mum. And there is no reason why we should be put through the mill again.’
Mrs McDougall said: ‘I can’t bear the thought of my boys being taken away. It’s making me ill.’
The saga began in September 2009 when their church wedding was halted 48 hours before it was due to take place because social services felt the bride ‘did not understand the implications of getting married’. Mrs McDougall was later told her baby would be removed at birth and placed with foster parents, sparking their decision to flee the UK. In January 2010, while living in Waterford, she gave birth to Ben. Days later Irish social workers, alerted by the ruling of their Scots counterparts, took the child into care. After nine months of assessments, during which Ben lived with foster carers, social services assessed the mother as fit to care for her son. The couple then wed at Waterford register office and set up home nearby, having another son, Lochlan, in November 2011. But the family became homesick. Mrs McDougall said: ‘Dunfermline has always been my home and I wanted to bring my sons up in the same place I grew up.’
The couple claim they visited Fife in October to speak to social services about returning. Mr McDougall said: ‘We felt surely by now, with two children, they could see that Kerry was fine and wouldn’t have any problems. We spoke to them and they agreed that was the case in fact they seemed amazed that we’d gone to see them at all.’
But they now face a case meeting on November 25. Referring to the McDougalls’ case, Birmingham Lib Dem MP John Hemming, who has campaigned for more openness in family courts, said: ‘The Irish authorities have studied their care for their children and concluded there is no problem. ‘However, the UK authorities want to investigate further. It does appear the authorities in Fife are being vindictive in the way they are dealing with this.’
Dougie Dunlop, head of children and families at Fife Council, said: ‘As with any family moving back to Fife, we will continue to meet with Kerry and Mark to discuss their circumstances so that they receive the care and support they need.’
