A surrogate mother has lost custody of her child after a court ruled he would be better placed with the gay couple who arranged for her to have the baby.

A senior judge said that the child's "identity needs as a child of gay intended parents" would be better fulfilled if he lived with the couple.

The woman signed a surrogacy agreement with the men, who she had she met online, and travelled to Cyprus in September 2015 to have an embryo transferred.

But the two families fell out and the woman and her husband changed their minds about giving the child up.

She did not tell the men about the birth for more than a week after it took place last April.

The male same-sex partners began legal proceedings and last year a High Court judge ruled that the child, now 18 months old, should live with them.

The decision came to light after the surrogate mother and father appealed and a new judgment was published on Friday. None of the people involved can be named.

Court of Appeal judges ruled that the original decision to give custody to the gay couple with limited contact six times a year with the surrogate mother and father was correct.