Woman's Hour - 05/05/2009

With Jane Garvey. In Michelle Pfeiffer's latest film, 'Cheri', she plays a successful courtesan in turn-of-the-century Paris. But her affair with a spoilt young man, Cheri, is forced to change when he enters into an arranged marriage. Jane meets Michelle and talks to her about love, youth and fading beauty. Ever since the law changed in 2005 allowing same-sex couples to adopt, an increasing number of gay and lesbian couples has come forward. But are they still facing resistance despite the number of children looking for a loving family every year? And what has their experience been so far? The author of a new guide to same-sex adoption, Nicola Hill, and Jeffrey Coleman from the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, join Jane. The soprano Kate Royal won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award when she was 25. She'll be discussing her technique, her influences and how she chose the 20th century arias included on her second album. And as part of the BBC's Dig In campaign, Alys Fowler of Gardener's World joins Jane to show her how to grow beetroot. Including drama: Ladies of Letters Crunch Credit (2/5).