The twin baby girls adopted by Judith and Alan Kilshaw last night faced the prospect of a fifth home in just nine months of life, following the high court ruling that they should be returned to America.
Whether or not the Kilshaws appeal against the decision, the turmoil that Kimberley and Belinda have experienced throughout their brief lives is unlikely to end just yet.
They will be taken from their home with foster parents in north Wales and placed with carers in America while a court in Missouri makes a final decision on who should be granted custody.
Their estranged natural parents, Tranda and Aaron Wecker, are separately seeking residence rights.
It is the latest twist in a remarkable saga that only became public because the Kilshaws approached The Sun newspaper to describe the difficulties they had adopting the girls, who were born in St Louis in July last year.
The Weckers had just split up and their mother was eager to have the twins adopted. She approached internet baby broker Tina Johnson, who placed the girls with a Californian couple, Richard and Vickie Allen, for a fee.
But two months later the Kilshaws offered her £8,200 - double the original fee - and she arranged to give the babies to them instead.
With the help of Ms Wecker she took the girls from the unwitting Allens and handed them over to the Kilshaws, who drove across the US so that they could carry out a speedy adoption in Arkansas, which has laxer adoption laws. A court in Little Rock subsequently annulled the arrangement.
News of the deal caused outrage in Britain and two days after the story broke in the Sun, in January this year, Flintshire social services served an emergency protection order on the Kilshaws. The authority put the two girls into the care of foster parents and applied to the family division of the high court to make the twins wards of court.
It is not yet know when the sisters will return to the US, although it is likely to take weeks as carers attempt to minimise the further disruption to their lives. The legal wrangles there could last much longer.
The Allens have withdrawn from the custody battle following claims - denied by the couple - that Mr Allen had molested two teenage babysitters. But the twins' natural parents are still fighting each other for custody.
Mr Wecker's counsel, Jeremy Rosenblatt, said yesterday: "He is thrilled and delighted with the decision of the English court. He will fight for the residence of his girls."
In his statement yesterday, Mr Justice Kirkwood commented: "The arrangements for the move of the twins are, and will remain, confidential. They will be carefully planned so as to avoid, so far as possible, any further distress."
But attempts to calm the furore have not been entirely successful.
Despite promising that they would stop commenting on the case, the Kilshaws continued to talk to the media and protest that the children should never have been removed from them.
At one point, court security staff had to search all those at tending the private hearing for recording equipment.
Yesterday Mrs Kilshaw repeatedly stormed out of court to scream at waiting reporters. She was restrained by friends, court staff and her eldest daughter Kaley as she yelled: "There is no justice. They said I lied." She added: "You want everything don't you? My life and my kids."
The Kilshaws were silent when the hearing ended, refusing to comment as they left the court by a back door usually reserved for judges.
The public relations agent Max Clifford is acting as their unpaid media adviser.
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<A HREF="http://www.theguardian.com/twins/story/0,7369,459481,00.html"> 20.03.2001: British couple fight on for internet twins
<A HREF="http://www.theguardian.com/twins/story/0,7369,459299,00.html">19.03.2001: Custody battle adjourned
<A HREF="http://www.theguardian.com/twins/story/0,7369,458742,00.html">18.03.2001: Net baby mother lashes out at 'official smear campaign'
<A HREF="http://www.theguardian.com/twins/story/0,7369,447790,00.html">07.03.2001: US judge rejects twins' adoption The issue explained
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Audio
<A HREF="http://www.pixunlimited.co.uk:7080/ramgen/news/politics/0123hcarter.ra"> 24.01.2001: 'Members of the public were shouting abuse'
Useful links
<A HREF="http://www.adoption.org.uk/" TARGET="_new">Adoption Information Line
<A HREF="http://www.adoption- net.co.uk/faq/faqindex.htm" TARGET="_new">ABC Adoptions: online adoption resources
British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering
