A Nigerian woman residing in West Yorkshire has lost custody of a baby she brought into the United Kingdom after a British Family Court ruled she has no biological connection to the child and may have obtained the infant through illegal means.
Identified as Susan, she was arrested at Gatwick Airport in July 2024 upon arrival from Nigeria with a newborn girl named Eleanor.
Before traveling, Susan told her general practitioner she was pregnant, but medical tests revealed no signs of pregnancy and instead uncovered a tumour she declined to treat.
She claimed her pregnancies were undetectable, asserting her babies were “always hidden.” Susan travelled to Nigeria in June 2024 and later told UK doctors she had given birth there. Upon return, police and social services intervened, and DNA tests confirmed no genetic link between the child and either Susan or her husband.
Susan asserted that she had conceived Eleanor through in vitro fertilization (IVF) using donor eggs and sperm before moving to the UK in 2023, presenting documents and photographs to support her claim. However, an expert social worker investigated and found the materials to be forged.
The supposed clinic had no record of her treatment, and the hospital where she claimed to have given birth was, in fact, a rundown flat staffed by teenagers dressed as nurses.
The doctor who signed the birth letter confirmed that someone had given birth there, but it was not Susan. Messages from Susan’s phone added to suspicions, including one where she requested hospital items from a contact labeled “Mum oft Lagos Baby,” to which the reply referenced costs for delivery drugs and hospital bills, suggesting a possible baby transaction.
Judge Recorder William Tyler KC ruled that Susan and her husband fabricated the story of Eleanor’s birth, used false documents, and caused the child significant emotional and psychological harm. He ordered Eleanor placed for adoption and issued a declaration of non-parentage.
The child’s guardian, represented by social worker Vikki Horspool, said the couple continued to be dishonest about Eleanor’s origins despite legal pleas for her return. The court, however, ruled in favor of permanent adoption.
Eleanor’s true origins remain unknown. This case reflects a pattern of babies brought into the UK from West Africa under false pretences.
The expert social worker noted she has worked on about a dozen similar cases since the pandemic, warning that baby trafficking is widespread across parts of the global south.
The UK has imposed restrictions on adoptions from Nigeria since 2021 due to child trafficking concerns.
A Home Office spokesperson stated that falsely claiming to be a child’s parent to facilitate entry into the UK is illegal and subject to prosecution.
Eleanor will receive British citizenship and a new identity following adoption, but her biological parentage remains unestablished.
