Internet Adoption Case Back in Court
L O N D O N, April 2 -- The struggle for custody of the American infant twins adopted through the Internet returned to court Monday, with lawyers for the girls' natural parents asking that they be declared abducted children, a court spokesman said.
The Welsh social services agency that seized the children fromthe British couple who claim custody also sought to have a say inthe children's future during the closed hearing at London's HighCourt.
Judge Andrew Kirkwood was attempting to untangle the convolutedinternational case, which has bounced between British and Americancourts and even onto "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Lawyers for each of the estranged biological parents, Tranda andAaron Wecker of St. Louis, Mo., filed papers asking Kirkwood todeclare the 9-month-old girls abducted children under the HagueConvention on Intercountry Adoption, said David Liddemore, aspokesman for the Lord Chancellor's Department.
Both the United States and Britain have joined the treaty, whichwas designed to set guidelines for international adoptions andrestrict child trafficking and fraud.
Both Weckers were represented at the hearing, although they werenot officially parties to the case, Liddemore said.
A Number of Options
Kirkwood was also considering an application by the socialservices agency that seized the children from Britons Judith andAlan Kilshaw in January to make them wards of the court, Liddemoresaid.
If Kirkwood chose to do so, he could then decide whether to sendthe twins back to the United States, where an Arkansas court isconsidering the Kilshaws' appeal of a decision voiding theiradoption of the girls. A court in St. Louis has also claimedjurisdiction.
Kirkwood could also order the girls to stay in foster care orreturn them to the Kilshaws, although it appears unlikely that hecould give the British couple permanent custody, because of theU.S. courts' involvement.
Liddemore said Kirkwood would not issue a decision beforeWednesday at the soonest.
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