Adopted by a British family 30 years ago, Mercita Collett travelled to her native Peru last month to meet her large biological family. She told DEBBIE WAITE about how the experience has enriched her family's life.

Mother-of-two Mercita Collett, who was adopted by a British surgeon and his wife in Peru more than 30 years ago, has made an amazing return to the Amazon, to meet her long-lost birth family.

Mrs Collett, 31, of Littleton Drew, near Chippenham, was born in the small town of Pucallpa in Peru, to a native Peruvian woman called Carmen.

Suffering from malformed knees, an abscess on her head and dehydration, she was taken by her mother to see the English surgeon who was working at the Hospital Amazonica, two miles from Pucallpa.

It was there that Mercita met consultant Mr James Dalrymple and his wife Jean, a nurse, who were later to become her adoptive parents.

The Dalrymples put her knocked knees in a cast to begin the process of straightening them and in the coming months, got to know both the baby and her mother well.

Through their talks, they learned of Carmen's fears for her daughter's future, growing up in a poor country with hardly any money and little chance for medical treatment.

Touched by the story and completely besotted by the baby, the Dalrymples agreed to adopt her as their own and take her to the UK.

Mrs Collett was a year old when she and the Dalrymples left Peru and travelled to Rhodesia to carry on their medical work, before eventually returning to London when she was seven.

Back in Britain, she underwent two major operations to correct her legs.

Growing up with her brother, Andrew, who is now 36 and also a doctor, her parents told her about her roots, but she had no contact with her biological family and said she had no wish to find out more about them, until much later.

"My parents always told me about where I came from and why I was adopted, but I never enquired much about Peru," she said.

"I just knew that as a young girl I came from the same place as Paddington Bear and that was enough."

After leaving school, Mrs Collett trained to be a nurse before moving to Littleton Drew and working at the Bath Royal United Hospital.

In June 1998, just before she married her husband Richard, 35, she received a letter from her uncle Gerrado in Peru.

"We have a friend in Peru called Andreas who was a river doctor in Pucallpa and has remained in contact with my uncle all these years," she explained.

"My Uncle Gerrado was the only person who enquired about me, but I never returned his letter it didn't seem like the right thing to do at the time.

"It wasn't until I had our daughter Frances, four years ago, that my curiosity about my roots grew stronger.

"And those feelings intensified with the birth of our second daughter, Olivia, 18 months ago, as she has very striking Peruvian features."

After talking it through, she and her husband decided to make the long journey to Peru in November.

"My parents supported me in my decision to go to Peru," she said.

"But I did not plan to meet my biological mother Carmen, as I thought it might be too much to cope with.

"I was keen to meet my Uncle Gerrado though and as it was, things actually turned out to be so much more than I could have expected.

"The minute we arrived in Peru, I was told that Carmen had heard through the family that I was coming and had travelled for a week along the Amazon to see me.

"We had literally just put our rucksacks down when the doorbell rang.

"I was nervous when she walked in and she was very emotional to see me but Carmen was really a stranger to me and we bore little resemblance to each other.

"She was nice though and we talked through an interpreter.

"I learned that my biological father died 20 years ago in a accident and that Carmen has since remarried.

"I have nine brothers and sisters, including a brother called Marcial, who is married with a son the same age as my daughter Olivia.

"And I also have a sister called Lady Diana who lives in Lima and another brother called Elvis!

"I also met masses of cousins, aunties and uncles, including my uncle Gerrado, who I was very pleased to see and who looks a lot like me.

"But one of the biggest surprises was when my brother Marcial first walked in and I saw his hair.

"Nearly all Peruvian people have black straight hair," Mrs Collett explained.

"But my daughter Frances has curly hair, completely different from my husband and we had often wondered where it had come from.

"When Marcial walked in with a full head of curls, Richard and I looked at each other and said: "That explains that then!"

Mrs Collett said she was taken aback by the basic way of life led by her family in Peru.

"They are very poor, but they are very happy," she said.

"People seem to marry and re-marry a lot and as a result, often have lots of children.

"I bought Carmen some shoes and spectacles and Richard and I also paid for water to be permanently installed in her house.

"She was very grateful and stayed in Pucallpa for the week.

"The whole trip was a real eye-opener," she continued.

"I realised very quickly that the life I have led in Britain has been very privileged compared to what life would have been like for me had I stayed in Peru.

"I would have undoubtedly been crippled, if it hadn't been for the treatment I received from my father.

"And I was also very humbled to see a plaque dedicated in his honour at the hospital where he worked."

Since returning from her five-week trip, in which she also toured other sites in Peru, including Machu Picchu, Mrs Collett has been busily showing her daughters the many photographs she took.

"Meeting my biological family answered all those little questions that had been in the back of my mind for years," she said.

"I learned that the country I come from is wonderful, not just for the beauty of it, but for its people too.

"I also have a large family, I never knew about before.

"And of course, I now know that Frances's curly hair is a family trait shared by my biological brother and not the postman."

"I am now looking forward to my next trip to Peru.

"I am also looking forward to teaching my girls about their rich Peruvian heritage.

"In the meantime, I am approaching Christmas with a considerably longer Christmas card list than ever before. It has all been a wonderful and life-changing experience."