Web Adopted Twins Allegedly Taken

January 17, 2001 / 6:51 PM EST / AP

A California couple claim that twin girls they adopted through an Internet service were taken from them and given to a British couple who whisked the children to England.

Richard and Vickie Allen said they began their attempt to adopt the 6-month-old girls in October after paying about $6,000 in fees to Tina Johnson, an Internet adoption broker.

Two months later, the children were taken back and given to a British couple who paid Johnson about $12,000, the couples said Wednesday morning in a joint appearance on The Early Show on CBS.

The FBI has begun a preliminary investigation, bureau spokesman Matthew McLaughlin said.

Johnson, who runs Caring Heart Adoption from her San Diego home, could not be located for comment. Her Web site appeared to have been taken down.

British attorney Alan Kilshaw and his wife, Judith, each holding a pink-clad twin, defended their actions.

"We were innocent. We didn't know anything about this," said Alan Kilshaw, 45. "Richard Allen's complaints should be directed against Tina Johnson, who basically stitched him. She took money off both parties."

Richard Allen said he sympathizes with the Kilshaws but will fight to get back the twins, whom they named Kiara and Keyara.

"I feel that there's a loss to be had here, but I don't want it to be us," he said. "They were American-born. They belong in our family."

The Allens, who live in San Bernardino with a 2-year-old adopted son, appeared on the show with their attorney, John Giffen. Messages left for Giffen and for the Allens were not immediately returned Wednesday.

The Allens said the twins' birth mother a St. Louis woman in her 20s requested a final visit with the girls in California in December. The Allens said they agreed because they considered her a friend.

But the birth mother took the infants to Arkansas, where the adoption by the Kilshaws was arranged.

The Kilshaws, who renamed the girls Belinda and Kimberley, said they felt sorry for the Allens but knew the birth mother was hostile to the Allens.

"If we hadn't have adopted them, they would be adopted by another family in America or another family abroad. She made it clear they would not go back to the Allens," Alan Kilshaw said.

The Allens maintain the Arkansas adoption was illegal because the birth mother had not been a state resident for 30 days, as is required.

Kilshaw said he and his wife turned to America for adoption 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 there. Private adoptions are illegal in Britain.

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

Home Secretary Jak 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."