Net twins case heads for U.S. court

LOS ANGELES, California -- The U.S. parents who adopted the twins at the centre of an international custody battle are planning to begin legal action on Wednesday.

Californian couple Richard and Vickie Allen are to file a petition in Arkansas aimed at overturning an adoption decree granting the British couple, Alan and Judith Kilshaw, parental rights.

The Allens say the twins Belinda and Kimberley were placed with them before the Kilshaws and that they are the rightful guardians.

Belinda and Kimberley are in the care of social workers in Britain after a UK High Court ordered research into what would be best for their futures.

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The Allens, who say they paid $6,000 to adopt the girls, hope to rescind an adoption decree that granted to the Kilshaws.

The petition is also to allege fraud on the part of the birth mother Tranda Wecker, the Allens' lawyer John Giffen told CNN on Tuesday.

The Allens, who had the babies for two months before they say they were duped into returning them, will say the girls' mother lied to the Arkansas court about her residency in the state, Giffen added.

Under Arkansas law, the attorney said, the birth mother needed to be a resident of the state for at least 30 days before the adoption proceedings -- something that she had not, Giffen said.

In another twist to the complicated case, the girls' biological father successfully sought a court order in St. Louis, Missouri, granting him temporary custody of his daughters and prohibiting his ex-wife from coming within 100 feet of them, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said Associate St. Louis Circuit Judge Jack Garvey awarded Aaron Wecker custody until at least February 14 when another hearing was scheduled.

A lawyer for Tranda Wecker -- the twins' natural mother -- said he was aware of Garvey's order but declined to comment further.

It was not immediately clear what impact, if any, the St. Louis custody order would have on the proceedings under way in Britain.

On Tuesday, a High Court judge ruled that the twins should stay in the care of the Flintshire County Council -- the Kilshaws' local authority -- which took the girls' into care last week.

Mr Justice Kirkwood said that the case involved legal complexities "since it is not just English law that I have to consider, but the position also in one, two or perhaps three states of the United States of America."

He said after the hearing: "I am sure that everybody understands that this court's task is to do its best to find the right solution for the twins. It's their welfare that really matters in all of this."

Meanwhile, Tranda Wecker repeated in an interview on television in the U.S. on Tuesday that she wanted the babies back.

Asked what had changed since she put the children up for adoption, she said: "I have a job. I have family and friends that will help me take care of my children. Me, as well as my children, miss their sister and I miss my girls very much."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.