A gay couple paid surrogate mothers they met on the internet more than £40,000 to give birth to three babies in less than six months, a court heard.

The civil partners created an instant family of five by going on a Facebook surrogacy forum and finding three women willing to bear their children.

And they went on to lie to a judge and social workers when quizzed about how much they paid the mothers for use of their wombs, the High Court in London heard.

Condemning the online "surrogacy market", Ms Justice Russell said there was "no going rate" for babies.