A WOMAN who was branded the “most hated” in Britain for buying two babies has said she has “no regrets” over her decision.
Judith Kilshaw admitted, however, that the move to purchase twin girls – who were just six months old – for £8,200 had “plagued” her life for the past 24 years.
She and husband Alan bought Kiara and Keyara Wecker in 2001 but were forced to hand the girls back after just three weeks of raising the twins in their Wales home.
The parents had found themselves caught in the centre of a bitter “cash for babies” scandal, where another family – a childless couple in America – had also “bought” the two infants.
Now, more than 20 years on, Judith has admitted her life had been “plagued” by the controversy, which not only ended in her losing her children, but also her marriage and her home.
Judith, now 71, told MailOnline she had “no regrets”, despite her life being upended by the scandal, adding she had not yet given up hope of being reunited with the twins.
Speaking from her Wrexham home, she pondered over whether the decision to purchase the children was regrettable.
Judith explained: “To a certain extent it has plagued my life – it never goes away.
“It was a nightmare to start with but time heals things. There’s bigger things to think about.
“But I have no regrets. I thought I could give the girls a better life and give them opportunities in life.”
Judith still hopes to talk to the girls and answer questions they may have for her.
She had lost her two infants after it was revealed in 2001 that the twins’ birth mum Tranda Wecker had previously sold them to another set of parents in the US for £4,000.
Following a bitter transatlantic legal battle, the girls were eventually returned to America where they were raised by a third family in Missouri.
Judith was dubbed the “UK’s most hated woman” during the scandal, and said it still affects her two decades later.
Speaking in 2022, she said: “People would see us in the street, say things and leg it.
“Once there was a crowd round us, and someone was walking past shouting and bawling, then she hit my daughter on the head with a five-pound bag of potatoes.
“I still get it today from time to time. People give you hassle, and you always think, ‘is it because of that?'”
Her quest to have a reunion with the two girls gained further traction following Alan’s death in 2019.
The story that shocked the world
THE Sun exclusively revealed the girls were put up for adoption by their natural mother Tranda Wecker, 28, a twice-divorced hotel receptionist from St Louis, Missouri.
- They were advertised on the internet by a broker called Tina Johnson.
- The Allens paid her £4,000 for the tots, originally named Kiara and Keyara.
- The couple took them to their San Bernardino home and were in the process of finalising legal adoption paperwork.
- But then Tranda turned up – and told plumber Richard and Vickie she needed two days with the kids to say a final farewell.
- In fact, the mum and Johnson handed them to the Kilshaws at a California hotel.
- The British couple, who hired Johnson as they believed they would not be allowed to adopt here, were told the babies had been cared for by the Allens.
- But they pushed this to the back of their minds. And they set off with the twins on a gruelling 1,500-mile car journey to Arkansas – where adoption is relatively easy – tracked by the Allens.
- Mr Kilshaw said: “We’re sympathetic to them. But we wanted the twins and the mother insisted she wanted them to go with us.”
- But Vickie Allen said: “How can those Brits sleep? They took our babies away from us.”
- The story was brought to The Sun by the Kilshaws, who said they wanted to warn other would-be parents about the pitfalls of online adoptions.
At the time, Judith explained Alan’s last wish was for her to visit America to try to make contact with them.
The mum-of-four, who had two sons with Alan and two older daughters, had looked into adoption when they found they were unable to have any more children.
But after a shake-up in “baby trading” rules under Tony Blair, the girls – named Belinda and Kimberley by the Kilshaws – were returned to the US and placed in foster care.
Judith and Alan split in 2006 but remained friends, with Alan even walking her down the aisle when she married her third husband three years later.
She added: “He had fond memories of them and said they had grown into nice girls.
“He never regretted that we bought the twins and neither do I.”
