Alex Kingston's adoption struggle

Alex Kingston has made two failed adoption bids

The actress - whose eight-year-old daughter Salome was conceived after In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment - and journalist husband Florian Haertel have "been through the emotional mill" in their attempts to extend their family after twice being let down.

She explained: "My husband isn't prepared to go down the IVF road again. We have had two unsuccessful attempts at adoption and we have been through the emotional mill.

"The first time, the birth mother disappeared with the baby. By the time she came back to us, we weren't allowed t adopt him any more for legal reasons - the mother had moved to a different stat.

"The second time, we were adopting from a wonderful lady in Texas. I went to the scans with her and we were in the hospital for 48 hours when she gave birth - then she decided she wanted to keep the baby and it was devastating."

Despite their bad experiences, the former 'ER' star hasn't ruled out launching another bid to take on the care of a child in future.

She added to You magazine: "I would try again in a heartbeat but my husband won't. Maybe he'll change his mind but at the moment he can't.

"I think people think celebrities get babies really easily, like Angelina Jolie, but they don't hear about the ones who aren't successful because we don't like talking about it, it's too painful."