Dynel Lane went to extreme lengths to show family and friends that she was expecting a baby. She shared ultrasound images with her daughter and kept photos on her mobile phone of herself seemingly pregnant.

The case of a Colorado woman accused of cutting open the belly of a pregnant woman and removing her baby girl is reviving the highly-charged debate over when a foetus can legally be considered a human being.

A 34-year-old woman stabbed a pregnant woman in the stomach and removed her baby as the expectant mother visited her home to buy baby clothes, Colorado authorities have said.