Internet twins couple to leave UK

The Kilshaws have vowed to fight a custody battle in the U.S. over the Internet twins

LONDON, England -- The British couple involved in a transatlantic fight over baby twin girls adopted via the Internet say they plan to move to the United States.

Alan and Judith Kilshaw, from north Wales, declared their intention as they arrived back in Britain from a trip to the States, where they appeared on the Oprah Winfrey television show.

Also appearing face-to-face with the couple were Californians Richard and Vickie Allen, who also claim to have adopted the twins.

Both couples say they paid a Californian Internet agency thousands of pounds to adopt the six-month-old girls Belinda and Kimblerley.

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The Kilshaws' comments came after a lawyer acting for the Allens served court papers on them shortly after the TV show.

The writ orders the Kilshaws from Buckley, Wales, to appear in a court in Arkansas to answer charges that they abducted the girls and deceived officials in the U.S. and Britain over the adoption.

The tangle has become more complicated with the biological parents Tranda, 28, and Aaron Wecker, who are separated, saying they want their children back.

Aaron Wecker has been awarded temporary custody of the girls by a St. Louis court.

"Our plan is to go and live in the States -- quite definitely," said Judith Kilshaw. "And we are going to go and live there. We're going to make it and we're going to do it."

"Would you really want to stay here?" she asked reporters at London's Heathrow airport.

Her husband said they intended to go to Arkansas to fight a legal battle against the Allens.

"We will definitely be fighting it. We don't know yet when we will be going to Arkansas. There's no date been set yet," Alan Kilshaw said.

The Allens say they cared for the twins for two months in the U.S. before they were taken away by the girls' natural mother who then handed them over to the Kilshaws in a California hotel.

The Kilshaws then got the adoption approved by an Arkansas court before taking the girls to Britain, where the story exploded in the media last month.

They had arranged the adoption through an adoption broker over the Internet.

Flintshire County Council social workers took the babies into custody on January 18 and a British High Court has ruled that the babies should remain in the care of local authorities while it considers the case.

The court had also told the Kilshaws not to discuss the case with the media.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Net twins couples reject mother return
February 2, 2001
Internet adoption couple face writ
February 2, 2001
TV showdown for adoption couples
February 1, 2001
U.S. judge awards custody to biological father of Internet twins
January 24, 2001
Internet twins to stay in care
January 23, 2001

UK Department of Health
British Agencies for Adoption & Fostering
U.S. Department of State
Flintshire County Council
Online with Oprah

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