FBI Launches Adoption Probe in L.A.

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” A California couple claims twin girls they adopted through the Internet were taken from them and sold to a British couple who whisked the children to England. <br><br>Richard and Vickie

Wednesday, January 17th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” A California couple claims twin girls they adopted through the Internet were taken from them and sold to a British couple who whisked the children to England.

Richard and Vickie Allen say they adopted the 6-month-old girls in October through Tina Johnson, an Internet adoption broker.

Two months later, the children were taken back and given to a British couple who paid about $12,000 in adoption fees, double the sum paid by the American couple, according to The Sun, a British tabloid.

The FBI has launched a preliminary investigation of the case, according to Matthew McLaughlin, a bureau spokesman in Los Angeles.

Johnson could not be located for comment and her Web site appeared to have been taken offline.

British attorney Alan Kilshaw and his wife, Judith, 47, defended the adoption.

``We haven't done anything either immoral or unethical,'' Alan Kilshaw, 45, said Tuesday in northern Wales. ``We have given two children, who would not have a home, a good home. There's a lot we can offer them. They are much better off with us than in America.''

The Kilshaws denied paying for the babies, originally named Kiara and Keyara but renamed Belinda and Kimberley by the couple. Rather, they said the money they handed over was a fee for the broker, who runs an online business called Caring Heart Adoption from her home in San Diego.

The Sun reported that the Allens gave the twins to their birth mother â€” a St. Louis woman in her 20s â€” after she requested a final visit with them in California in December.

Instead, she and the Kilshaws took the infants to Arkansas, where the adoption was arranged, the newspaper said.

The Kilshaws said they did not know the twins had been promised to the Allens until they arrived in California and after they had paid the $12,000.

According to the Sun, Alan Kilshaw said on a British TV show that the mother ``was adamant we were her first choice. She wanted the children to come with us to Britain.''

The Allens, who also have a 2-year-old adopted son, maintain the Arkansas adoption was illegal because the birth mother had not been a resident of the state for 30 days, as is required.

``This case demonstrates why private adoption is illegal in Britain,'' said Felicity Collier, chief executive of British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering. ``We often hear criticisms by prospective adopters about the checks which are carried out before adoptive parents are considered suitable and comparisons are made far too often with the ease with which people can adopt in the U.S.''

The Allens, who took the twins into their San Bernardino home as the adoption was being finalized, say they are heartbroken.

``I feel like I've failed my wife and my family,'' Richard Allen told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles on Tuesday. ``It's been like a death. But the last 24 hours have given us some hope about reuniting our family.''

Kilshaw said he and his wife turned to America for adoption as a last resort after trying fertilization treatments and looking to other countries.

He said they did not try to adopt in Britain because they felt they would be turned down despite recent efforts to make the process easier in their native country.

The Kilshaws already have two boys of their own, ages 4 and 7, and an 18-year-old daughter from a previous relationship of Mrs. Kilshaw's. They are applying for British citizenship for the girls, who have six-month tourist visas.

Home Secretary Jack Straw, Britain's top law-enforcement official, said he was concerned about the circumstances that led to the girls entering Britain.

``It is illegal, completely illegal, in this country for people to buy and sell babies or children, and that is entirely as it should be, because it is frankly a revolting idea,'' Straw told Britain's Channel 4 News.

David H. Baum, president of the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers, noted that adoption facilitators, unlike adoption agencies, are not licensed by the state.

``What (facilitators) are offering to adoptive couples causes them to leave their good judgment at the door,'' Baum said. ``When you've been through years of infertility treatments and an unlicensed person comes up and says they can get you a baby in 30 days, it's very hard to turn down that pitch.''

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On the Net:

American Academy of Adoption Attorneys: http://www.adoptionattorneys.org

National Adoption Center: http://www.adopt.org