Reunite internet twins with parents - lawyer

Kiara and Keyara Wecker, the Internet twin girls once at the centre of a transatlantic custody battle, were back in the United States yesterday after spending most of their lives away from their natural parents.

Bill Meehan, a lawyer for their biological mother, Tranda Wecker, said that the nine-month-old twins should soon be reunited with their estranged parents, who are both seeking the girls’ custody.

Under the supervision of St Louis Family Court and Missouri family services officials, the Weckers will begin a ‘‘reunification process,’’ Meehan said.

Aaron and Tranda Wecker ‘‘will get a checklist of things to do, and when they typically meet those types of things, the twins will be gradually reunited with the family,’’ Meehan said.

The twins returned to St Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday, accompanied by three British social workers, said officials in Flintshire, North Wales, which had custody of the twins.

Judith and Alan Kilshaw, a British couple who located the twins on the Internet and adopted them in the southern state of Arkansas, gave up their custody fight in Britain last week. On April 9, a High Court judge ordered the girls returned to St Louis.

Aaron Wecker alleged in court documents filed in January that Tranda Wecker had inflicted emotional child abuse on the twins ‘‘by neglecting their well-being and attempting to sell my daughters over the Internet for adoption and profit (not once, but twice).’’

He also accused his wife of ‘‘failing to report to me on the whereabouts of the children for weeks at a time, subjecting the twins to illegal activities and underhanded and shady doings.’’

Meehan said Tranda Wecker was overjoyed and relived that the twins have returned, ‘‘and she’s looking forward to visiting with them as soon as the court gives her permission.’’

There was no guarantee that she would get custody of the children, Meehan said. Aaron and Tranda Wecker, separated since shortly after the twins were born, are getting a divorce.

‘‘It will be like any other type of family law case, the court will look at the parenting plans proposed by the parents and make a decision,’’ Meehan said. That could include some form of shared custody, he said, or it could mean one parent gets custody while another gets occasional visitation.

‘‘I don’t believe it will be difficult to persuade this court that Tranda is a good caregiver,’’ Meehan said. ‘‘She’s always taken care of her children, she doesn’t have any skeletons in her closet, and she will be able to provide for these children’s care.’’

The Kilshaws, who brought the babies to Britain three months ago, said they paid double the fee paid by a California couple, Richard and Vickie Allen, who also wanted to adopt the twins.

The Allens initially contested the Kilshaws’ claim to the twins. The Allens said they had paid £4,000 to A Caring Heart, an Internet adoption service run by Tina Johnson of El Cajon, California. The Kilshaws subsequently paid about £8,000.

A court later ordered the twins placed in foster care in England pending a decision on custody.

Subsequently, the Kilshaws’ adoption was voided by a court in Arkansas, which ruled that the Kilshaws and Tranda Wecker had not met the 30 day residency requirement to qualify as state residents at the time of the adoption. The Kilshaws appealed that decision.

The Allens bowed out of the custody battle after Richard Allen was accused of molesting two baby sitters. Allen has pleaded innocent, but the couple has also lost custody of a two-year-old boy they were seeking to adopt.