Net twins couples reject mother return

U.S. writ was served after Kilshaws appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Two couples in a trans-Atlantic fight over the Internet adoption of twin girls have agreed on one thing -- the babies should not be returned to their natural mother.

Both couples claim to have adopted the girls -- the Allens first and then the Kilshaws -- through a Californian Internet adoption agency.

The Allens say they adopted the baby girls and cared for them for two months until the twins' American natural mother took them away and handed them to the Kilshaws.

"No. How do we know she won't do this again and again?" said Judith Kilshaw of Buckley, Wales, when asked by TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

REFERENCE Internet adoptions   •  Offers abound on Web   •  Web adoption pitfalls   •  Q&A: UK court ruling   •  Quick vote     AUDIO CNN's Tom Mintier: The girls are in Britain on tourist visas 468kb/43sec.. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Family law: Adoption

In the second instalment of the interview, aired in the U.S. on Friday, her husband Alan agreed, as did the couple at the other end of the struggle, Richard and Vickie Allen of San Diego, California.

On Thursday, the Kilshaws were served with papers ordering them to appear before an Arkansas court accused of abducting the girls and deceiving officials in the U.S. and Britain.

Over in Britain, a court ruled on Friday that six-month-old Belinda and Kimberley should remain in the country until the legal issues were resolved.

The girls were taken from the Kilshaws' home and have been cared for in a foster home since the dispute erupted.

The Kilshaws flew to California to collect the girls and later travelled to Arkansas to compete the adoption process.

Amid international media attention the birth mother, Tranda Wecker of Missouri, said in a television interview that she wants the twins back while a court in St. Louis has awarded custody to their biological father, Aaron Wecker.

On the talk show segment aired on Friday Judith Kilshaw denied newspaper reports that she was a "witch" or that the couple lived in a dirty house unfit for children.

"I have three dogs ... four cats and one pot-bellied pig and two horses," she said, but the horses and pig do not live in the house.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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British Agencies for Adoption & Fostering
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