Mother who faked abortion to give away baby jailed Published duration 16 June 2015

A mother who duped her former partner into thinking she had an abortion in order to give his child to her gay friend has been jailed for three years.

The child's father was told his former partner had had an abortion, and that the baby in question had been supplied by a fictional surrogate mother.

The woman's 35-year-old friend was also jailed for three years.

During a six-day trial, the court heard that the child's mother and her friend had signed a birth certificate and claimed to be the child's natural parents, but DNA tests later proved this was not the case.

The con came to light when the real biological father was told the baby looked very like him, and he went to police.

'Cynical scheme'

It came to light that the supposed surrogate mother, a lawyer called Clare Green, had been invented by the two accused, who set up a fake Facebook account in that name.

The father has since taken custody of his child.

Jailing the duo, Sheriff William Wood said: "In all respects this was an elaborate and cynical scheme.

"Neither of you have accepted responsibility for your conduct. You have little insight into your actions and the consequences for others. The maintenance of your innocence does neither of you any credit.

"You persisted in this wicked scheme for a period of almost three years, until the father was able to get to the truth. Had it not been for his determination there may well have been further damage to this child.

"The social work report says your conduct is likely to have caused lasting psychological damage, or at least trauma, to this child. You denied the father the opportunity to parent his child for a significant period of time."

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