Judge says twins must return to St Louis in secret

The twins adopted by a British couple over the Internet should return to Missouri hidden from the public eye, the family court judge overseeing their case has said.

The nine-month-old girls have been at the centre of an international adoption dispute after their mother, Tranda Wecker of St Louis, twice put them up for adoption over the Internet.

According to reports, Judge Steven Ohmer said on Thursday he’s just ‘‘trying to make sure that this doesn’t just turn into a circus’’.

‘‘The press over in England has been just awful, camping out in the hotel where these kids were staying and stuff like that,’’ Ohmer, the St Louis Family Court judge, said.

‘‘The press is entitled to know what’s going on, but I’d like to minimise the show atmosphere. To put these kids in any more of a fishbowl than they are is not going to be in anybody’s interest.’’

The British couple, Alan and Judith Kilshaw from Buckley, north Wales, said earlier this week they would not appeal against a ruling by the High Court judge in London who ordered the girls be returned to St Louis.

The twins have been in foster care in Wales since social workers took them from the Kilshaws after the adoption was publicised.

The Kilshaws brought the babies to Britain three months ago after paying a California adoption ‘‘facilitator’’ an £8,600 fee. They then became embroiled in a custody battle with a California couple who earlier paid half that amount to the same agency.

The California couple, Richard and Vickie Allen of Highland, California, later backed out after Richard Allen was charged with molesting two baby sitters. He has pleaded innocent.

The twins were born in St Louis to Tranda and Aaron Wecker, now separated and each vying for custody.