Vik Fielder's unmarried 18-year-old mother "desperately" tried to keep her baby after giving birth in 1971. But like 250,000 other British women, she was forced to give her child up for adoption. Twenty years later, she took her own life, "which was directly linked to losing her daughter". Now, Fielder is backing fresh calls for a formal apology from the government. The 54-year-old said it would be the "first step" towards healing the trauma felt by survivors. Following decades of calls for action, the Education Select Committee has recommended the government provides a formal apology and begins working with survivors. Fielder said this would "go a long way towards acknowledging the fact that there was harm done". The government said its "deepest sympathies" were with all those affected and it was "actively considering" an apology. Fielder, a veteran who now lives on the Quantocks in Somerset, is one of an estimated 250,000 women who were affected by forced adoptions in Britain in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.…