Surrogate mother must return boy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/6917815.stm

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Appeal judges have ordered a surrogate mother who refused to give up her baby boy to return the child to his father.

The baby was conceived after an agreement between a married man from Leeds and a married surrogate mother from Bristol, who has several children.

The court heard the father agreed to inseminate the woman on condition that the child she bore would be handed over to him and his wife after birth.

But it became clear the mother had no intention of handing the child over.

Legal proceedings began at Bristol County Court and Mr Justice Coleridge awarded custody of the boy to the father under the surrogacy agreement.

He found the surrogate mother had never intended to hand the child over and was motivated by "a compulsive desire to bear a child or further children".

The mother was granted permission to appeal against the order, retaining custody of the boy until the matter was finally settled.

On Thursday, Lord Justice Thorpe, Lord Justice Lloyd and Lord Justice Toulson, sitting at the Appeal Court, dismissed the mother's claim and opened the way for the father and his family to travel to Bristol to collect the little boy.