Third couple claim offer of Internet twins

The row over the adoption of the so-called Internet twins, Belinda and Kimberley, by a couple in Wales is continuing on both …

The row over the adoption of the so-called Internet twins, Belinda and Kimberley, by a couple in Wales is continuing on both sides of the Atlantic today after new revelations.

A third set of parents have come forward to say they were offered the twin girls by the Internet baby broker Ms Tina Johnson while the story of the Kilshaws' adoption of the girls and their fight to smuggle them out of America could be made into a Hollywood movie, according to newspaper reports.

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

The new revelations came after the FBI confirmed it had begun a preliminary investigation into the row, British social services said the Kilshaws, of Buckley, north Wales, would be monitored, and Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the baby trade as "deplorable".

The search is continuing for baby broker Ms Tina Johnson after the third couple said they had agreed to buy the six-month-old twins from her.

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Amy and Eddie White, from New York State, agreed to pay her £5,800 but the deal collapsed when they failed to produce the cash quickly enough, The Sunnewspaper reported.

Mrs White made a bid for the girls last year but was denied the sale after she and her husband queried the price and did not get the money to Ms Johnson in time.

Mrs White told The Sun: "I shudder when I think we could have been in the middle of this horrible mess. We could have adopted the girls and then had them taken away."

Californian couple Vickie and Richard Allen claim they agreed to pay Ms Johnson £4,000 for the twins and were finalising the deal when the babies were taken from them and given to the Kilshaws.

Solicitor Mr Kilshaw, 45, and his wife, 47, adopted Belinda and Kimberley in Arkansas, brought them back to Britain on six-month tourist visas and are now applying for British citizenship for them.

Mr Kilshaw told the Express that he had begun talks with Hollywood film studios about turning the adoption saga into a movie.

He told the newspaper: "I told the studio bosses, 'let's get it on', I really want to see this movie made.

"We were contacted on Tuesday night and they say they want to look at the possibility of turning our story into a movie.

"And they, like us, are very keen to make sure that happens. I think it would make a great film and I see no reason why that shouldn't happen."

Mr Kilshaw also revealed that he was taking legal advice about whether he could take court action to recover some of the £24,000 the couple spent getting the girls out of America.

He told the Express that he and his wife incurred extra expenses because of the way Ms Johnson, of the Caring Heart Agency, had handled the adoption.

Meanwhile authorities in north Wales said the Kilshaws would be monitored by social services and had met with "two experienced social workers".

The couple, who already have two young sons, were asked to hand over copies of the US adoption documentation by officials in Flintshire who said they would seek legal advice if they were not forthcoming.

PA