News@www.adoption-net.co.uk
This story published January 31, 2001

Twins: Legal action by birth father

The birth father of the American internet twins has started legal action to overturn the adoption of the girls by British couple Alan and Judith Kilshaw.

Aaron Wecker's lawyer Arkansas lawyer Rhonda Slayden has filed a motion to have the Kilshaws' adoption set aside and have custody of the twins given to him.

"I've talked with Aaron at length, and I think he's a good father," she said. "These kids are in foster care now. They need some stability soon."

A St Louis court has already granted temporary custody to Mr Wecker, but children will remain in the care of Flintshire County Council until the issue is clearer.

Meanwhile the Californian couple, Richard and Vickie Allen, who claim to have bought the twin girls first, filed a similar motion last week.

Arkansas law requires that a birth mother or the adoptive parents must have lived in the state for at least 30 days prior to the adoption.

The twins' natural mother Tranda Wecker, 28, has admitted that she lied about living in the state, giving her aunt's address as her own.

She has also said she wants her twins back but faces the possibility of being charged for deceiving the Arkansas court if she returns to the state to reclaim her babies.

Mr and Mrs Allen say they paid £4,000 for the twins but were tricked into handing the babies back to their birth mother, Tranda Wecker, who then gave them to Mrs and Mrs Kilshaw of north Wales who had paid double the money.

The Kilshaws drove with Ms Wecker to Little Rock, Arkansas, where a local official granted them the adoption on December 22. The couple, from Buckley, north Wales, then returned to Britain with the girls.

The Kilshaws believe they have legal rights to the children, which are currently in temporary foster care while the complex transatlantic legal issues of who should look after them are sorted out.