The judgment in the Baby A case, where a couple was ordered to hand a baby they had in their care over to the Eastern Health Board, is being challenged in the Supreme Court. The case is likely to be heard shortly after Easter.
However, the couple, who run a pregnancy counselling service under a number of different names, including the Aadams agency and the Women's Counselling Network, are not seeking the baby's return as they had agreed to hand her over on the eve of the High Court case. They are seeking a declaration that the judgment was wrong in law.
The baby's mother, who was unmarried, had indicated she wished to have the baby adopted and had earlier given her into the care of the couple. However, she later decided she did not want them to adopt the baby.
The case had been brought by the EHB which made a habeas corpus application after it discovered the couple had the baby. Private adoptions are illegal in this State.
The judgment, which found the couple had illegal custody of the baby, was handed down by Ms Justice Laffoy last August. Because the case involved children it was heard in camera, and the judgment was not released. It was later published by The Irish Times.
Under a court order not only the identity of the two children mentioned in the judgment and their mothers, but that of the couple and a doctor and lawyer associated with them, cannot be published.