Arkansas set to change adoption laws

New laws are set to be introduced in the Arkansas to tighten adoption procedures in the wake of the Kilshaw case.

BBC Online quotes a cross party group of members of the House of Representatives as saying current laws are too permissive.

Alan and Judith Kilshaw, from North Wales, are fighting for custody of six-month-old twins Belinda and Kimberley, whom they adopted over the internet.

The children were taken into care by police and social workers on Thursday night and are staying with temporary foster parents at an undisclosed address.

Arkansas Republican Representative Cecile Bledsoe says the state is considered a "soft touch" for adoption.

"We have people coming to Arkansas to adopt that are not residents. We have mothers who come in to give birth and then leave. We want to change that," she told BBC radio.

The BBC claims to have seen a draft copy of the bill which will impose stricter residency measures and crackdown on private adoption agencies.

Meanwhile, some UK newspapers quote Judith Kilshaw as saying she would return to the US to adopt more babies, if the couple lose next week's High Court custody case.

"I'm going to go back to America, adopt two other children and stick two fingers up at Britain," said the woman who describes herself and her husband Alan, the most reviled couple in Britain.

She is believed to be spending her weekend "looking for a new house, a new home and a new country".