5 April 2006

BRUSSELS — The Belgian surrogate baby at the centre of a drawn-out adoption battle will definitely stay with the Dutch couple currently taking care of the 13-month-old girl.  

The Utrecht youth welfare authority Bureau Jeugdzorg — which had official custody of baby D. — has indicated it will not appeal against a Dutch magistrate's decision transferring custody to the Dutch couple.
 
A Flemish surrogate mother in Sint-Lievens-Houtemse, An Blomme, gave baby D. in February 2005 to the Dutch couple, identified only by the surname Janssen.

The exact circumstances of the 'transaction' remain uncertain, but a sum of money is alleged to have been exchanged.

The baby girl had earlier been promised to a heterosexual Flemish couple, Geertrui Praet and Bart Philtjens, of Herk-de-Stad who had initiated the surrogate pregnancy.

But Blomme later reneged on that deal and tried to sell the baby to a gay couple from Hasselt before handing the baby over to the Janssens.

A Dutch court then ruled at the end of last year that baby D. would be better off with the Janssens because "in the meantime an affective bond has arisen".

But the Utrecht youth welfare authority was left with the opportunity to appeal the decision and has since decided against taking any further legal action.
 
The Flemish couple who initiated the surrogacy recently started proceedings to adopt a different child, stressing that they had to move on with their life.

[Copyright Expatica News 2006]

Subject: Belgian news