Internet baby row deepens

Kimberley, left, and Belinda were brought to the UK on tourist visas

LONDON, England -- A third set of parents say they had tried to buy the U.S. twin girls sold over the Internet to two different couples, a report says.

Amy and Eddie White, from New York State, say they had agreed to pay $5,800 for the toddlers last June but the deal collapsed when they failed to produce the cash quickly enough, the UK tabloid, The Sun newspaper, reports.

Two sets of couples, who say they did pay for the babies, are locked in a transatlantic battle to keep the girls.

"I shudder when I think we could have been in the middle of this horrible mess," Amy White was quoted as saying. "We could have adopted the girls and then had them taken away."

ALSO The Pitfalls of Internet adoption

The FBI confirmed it is investigating the adoption site at the centre of the row, the Caring Heart Adoption Web site, and British social services are "monitoring" Alan and Judith Kilshaw, who brought the six-month-old girls Kimberley and Belinda to the UK.

WEB EXCLUSIVE Charles Feldman on the Internet adoption controversy

The babies were brought to the UK on six-month tourist visas and the Kilshaws, who already have three children, are applying for British citizenship for the twins.

The tangle became more complicated when the babies' biological mother Tranda Wecker, 28, of St. Louis, Missouri, said she wanted the toddlers back after seeing them on British television, The Sun added.

REFERENCE Internet adoptions   •  Offers abound on Web   •  Web adoption pitfalls   •  Q&A: UK court ruling   •  Quick vote

She was quoted as complaining about the way the babies had been handled by the Kilshaws and the amount of time being spent being interviewed rather than caring for the children.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair described the Internet adoption process as "absolutely deplorable."

The Allens hold the twins in October with their adopted two-year-old son Andrew

The Kilshaws are in negotiations to make a Hollywood film out of the adoption case, another British newspaper said.

The couple, who live in Buckley, north Flintshire, Wales, also revealed they were taking legal advice about whether they could take court action to recover some of the $24,000 they spent getting the girls out of the U.S.

A video they made after calling in paranormal investigators in to their home has been handed to the BBC.

Alan Kilshaw, a lawyer, denied they had "bought" the children, arguing they had paid a fee for someone to arrange the adoption for them.

They turned to the Web because they feared they would be turned down by adoption authorities in the UK and after trying fertilisation treatments. Officials have asked them to hand over copies of the U.S. adoption documentation.

The search for the baby broker Tina Johnson, who runs the adoption site from her home in San Diego, California, is continuing. Her Web site appeared to have been taken down.

She is alleged to have also arranged for U.S. couple, Richard and Vickie Allen of California, to adopt the girls, who they named Kiera and Keyara, for a $6,000 fee.

Alan Kilshaw, said: "We were innocent. We didn't know anything about this.

"Richard Allen's complaints should be directed against Tina Johnson. She took money off both parties."

But Richard Allen, who has a two-year-old adopted son, said: "I feel that there's a loss to be had here, but I don't want it to be us. They were American-born. They belong in our family."

Reuters contributed to this report.

The pitfalls of Internet adoption
January 17, 2001
Legal battle over Internet twins
January 17, 2001
Couples fight for Internet twins
January 16, 2001

UK Home Office
British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.