In January 2002 my daughter Nicola who is 18 had suddenly become extremely friendly with a girl called Vik who is 22. Nicola bought Vik to meet us and she is a truly lovely girl but I noticed that Nicola seemed to be in love with Vik the same way we thought she would fall in love with a boy one day.

I kept telling myself that Nicola couldn't possibly be gay because she had boyfriends in the past. Also Nicola and Vik did not seem like stereotype lesbians but I thought that I had better ask Nicola if she was gay just to put my suspicions to rest. I had the biggest shock of my life when Nicola said that she was 99% sure that she was gay. We hugged and cried together. We think we felt every emotion possible and I asked Nicola many questions. A few days later Nicola came out to her Dad and her 16-year-old brother. Nicola's dad was shocked but said he loved her dearly and nothing was ever going to change his feelings towards her.

All of a sudden things from the past started to make sense. When Nicola was 14 she seemed ill. We thought she had a serious illness and we were surprised when all the doctors tests came back normal. When Nicola was 15 she cut the backs of her arms, I again took her to the doctor and he said she was suffering from depression and put her on anti-depressants for 6 months. Her schoolwork was suffering and Nicola started to see the school counsellor who was truly marvellous.

We now realize that this was the time when Nicola was having difficulty accepting her sexuality. By the time Nicola was 16 she began to accept who she was and was a much happier person. She passed her GCSEs with good grades and will be taking her A-levels in the summer and also going to university in September.

We are coming to terms with Nicola's sexuality and we are very proud indeed and are sure that Nicola will have a happy and fulfilling life that she deserves.

I started going to the Birmingham Parents' Support Group in February. I found it tremendously helpful and it is lovely to meet parents who have special families like mine.