Social Services warned of ‘miracle baby’ trafficking risk
By News England
Social services have been warned to watch out for couples returning from Africa with “miracle babies” as they could be a cover for trafficking.
Child protection organisations Cafcass, ADCS and Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) have issued guidance to all social workers in the UK.
They want to help them recognise signs of staged fake births.
The Family Court has seen five cases of couples attempting to bring babies into the UK whom they are not related to.
One couple claimed fertility treatment combined with their strong Christian faith had resulted in them conceiving in Nigeria – but tests showed the child, who was later taken into care, was not theirs.
A dozen more cases were detected by the British consulate in Lagos – though officials say that the real numbers could be much higher.
‘Bought and sold’
Andy Elvin, chief executive of CFAB, described the cases as “disturbing” and urged social workers to involve the police, who can investigate whether couples have been involved in criminal activity or are the victims of a “cruel deception”.
“The most disturbing element is that babies are for sale,” he said.
“In the 21st century, humans are being bought and sold for somewhere in the region of £12,000. It’s something we thought went out with slavery.
“It’s shocking that people are willing to sell babies, but it’s just as shocking that people will buy them.”
Mr Elvin said that many of the birth mothers will have been coerced, and may even have been sold into prostitution.
“There are many victims, but the real victims are of course the children,” he said.
“They won’t know anything about their origins. It’s like the dark days of adoption when people thought it best not to tell the child anything.
“The effect on a child who discovers their life to be a lie can be profound – and can lead to mental health problems later on.”
CFAB worked with Cafcass – the Children and Family Court Advisory Service – and ADCS (Association of Directors of Children’s Services) to produce a multi-agency information leaflet to assist social workers to recognise and understand the signs of faked birth – such as a lack of antenatal appointments – and to encourage referrals to the relevant authorities.
Mr Elvin said that the aim was to “suspend disbelief” of such practices occurring and to work to prevent what he described as a “100% increase” in cases since 2005.
In October last year, the High Court ruled that a couple could keep a baby they brought back from Nigeria – even though tests showed they were not the biological parents.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she’d gone to the country for fertility treatment and was tricked into believing she had given birth.
The presiding judge Mr Justice Coleridge said the pair – who he described as “people of the highest calibre and integrity” – were victims of the “most appalling scam”.
Analysis
BBC News – Angus Crawford
The growth in “miracle baby” cases is child trafficking by another name.
Real birth mothers, who tend to be poor, illiterate and young, are often forced to give up their babies.
Children are then sold by middle men posing as fertility doctors to childless couples who try and bring them back to the UK.
A birth is often faked or staged at a “clinic”. The infertile woman may be given drugs to bloat her stomach and be sedated during a bogus “labour”.
When she wakes up she’s given “her” baby. In reality it will have been born to another woman and then smuggled into the labour room.
Central to the scam is the issue of faith. Many couples involved are evangelical Christians.
Some genuinely believe they have had miraculous births – despite DNA tests showing they’re not related to the child.
Charities working in this area say others simply use their faith as a cover for criminality.