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Rhyl Journal

On this day: Flintshire adoption scandal told in documentary

Alan and Judith Kilshaw, who lived in Buckley at the time, made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic in 2000 when they paid £8,200 to adopt twin baby girls from a young American mother, Tranda. The scandal involved the single mother allegedly selling her twins to two different couples for cash - once to another couple in the US, before snatching them back to be sold to a different couple in the UK, Alan and Judith. The twins, Kiara and Keyara, were initially placed with new parents Vickie and Richard who lived in California - who it's alleged paid £4,000 for the children. Alan and Judith, who already had four children, travelled to the US to meet Tranda who had sold the twins to them after reportedly snatching them away from Vickie and Richard. The Buckley couple, who believed they had adopted the twins, renamed them Belinda and Kimberley. A custody battle then began between the two couples, with the twins eventually being given to a different family entirely back in the US. Events surrounding what's come to be known as the 'cash for babies' scandal were covered in the Prime Video documentary Three Mothers, Two Babies and a Scandal in 2022. But this time last year, a Channel 5 documentary launched to bring the gripping tale back to life. 'The Baby Scandal That Shocked The World' was released in July 2024. It revisits the heart-breaking case from the perspective of the women involved - the birth mother and the two adoptive mothers. The documentary synopsis reads: "The story of the internet adoptions of twin babies by two separate families on two different continents, and the transatlantic custody battle and media storm that ensued. "The programme revisits the custody case for the twin girls through each of the mothers' eyes, Tranda, the birth mother; Vickie, the American adoptive mother and Judith, the Welsh adoptive mother." This story was first reported on by Arron Evans on July 20, 2024.