British Judge Rules on Twins

Tuesday, January 23rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) â€” American-born twins adopted by a British couple who found them through the Internet will temporarily remain in authorities' care, a British judge ruled Tuesday.

Social welfare authorities in North Wales had taken the 6-month-old twins away from Alan and Judith Kilshaw on Thursday. An American couple, who found the twins through the same Internet adoption service, is contesting the adoption.

The judge said a determination on the girls' future would probably be made within a few weeks.

The girls, named Kimberley and Belinda, were taken from the Kilshaws under an emergency custody order, which was to have expired on Jan. 26.

The legality of the adoption is being challenged by a California couple, Richard and Vickie Allen, who say the girls were taken from them while they were in the process of adopting them.

Tuesday's High Court hearing in the city of Birmingham was held in chambers, with the press and public excluded, and the decision announced afterward.

The judge, Justice Andrew Kirkwood, said the issues were complex.

``It is not just English law that I have to consider, but the positions also in one, two or even three states in the United States of America,'' he said.

``This court's task is to do its best to find the right solution for the twins. It is their welfare that really matters in all of this,'' Kirkwood said.

Pending a decision, the justice said it was imperative that the twins be left in peace. He said the Kilshaws voluntarily agreed not to talk to the press about what had gone on at the hearing.

The case has made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, with British tabloids labeling the Kilshaws the ``baby trade couple.'' They paid $12,000 to a California adoption service, A Caring Heart. The Allens paid the same adoption service $6,000.

Jennifer Coburn, spokeswoman for Tina Johnson, who operated A Caring Heart, said last week that Johnson was ``a legitimate adoption facilitator who provides a service for adoptive parents wishing to locate children who are being placed for adoption.''