Fact-finding hearing investigates whether a couple who had apparently given birth to a child in Nigeria had been aware that it was actually a ‘staged labour’

Fact-finding hearing investigates whether a couple who had apparently given birth to a child in Nigeria had been aware that it was actually a ‘staged labour’


Family Law Week has published an excellent summary of A Local Authority v S & O [2012] EWHC 3764 (Fam). In this case a Nigerian woman living in the UK (Mrs S) went to her GP carrying a baby, O, born according to a birth certificate produced to the GP a month or so before at a maternity clinic in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The GP was suspicious, having carried out a number of checks in the previous months which had revealed that Mrs S was not pregnant, and although she did not have concerns about the care of the baby, notified the local authority about her concerns about the parentage.