Clone company ordered to disclose whereabouts of baby

AN executive with the company that claims to have produced a human clone has been summoned to appear in court, and the company ordered to disclose the whereabouts of the baby girl and her mother.

The witness subpoena and summons were approved on Saturday by a US court at the request of lawyer Bernard Siegel, who has filed a lawsuit asking the state to appoint a guardian for the child.

The papers were delivered to Thomas Kaenzig, a Clonaid vice-president, before he spoke at the Money World 2003 conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

If Mr Kaenzig fails to appear at the hearing on January 22, he could be held in contempt of court. Mr Kaenzig would not speak about the papers and Clonaid spokeswoman Nadine Gary also declined to comment. Mr Kaenzig said the girl’s parents feared losing her through government or court action: “They have been waiting many, many years for this baby to be here and they are very happy that the baby is here.”

Clonaid announced on December 27 in Hollywood, Florida, that a baby girl born the previous day was cloned from her mother.

The company said the mother of the baby, named Eve, was a 31-year-old American whose husband was infertile, but has refused further to identify the family or say where the cloning process or birth occurred.

The company had originally committed to allow DNA tests to prove the cloning claim, but said last week the baby’s parents will not submit to any testing unless they receive guarantees the child will not be taken away.

Clonaid has ties to the Raelian religious sect, which believes aliens created life on Earth.

Their revelation was met with intense scepticism and experts have demanded the DNA tests as proof of the birth.