Spanish adoption delight for English couple

January 1, 2011

A BRITISH couple had the perfect Christmas present when the Spanish authorities overruled a forced adoption order in the UK.

Valencia social services decided to give the couple’s 10-month-old baby Daniel back, despite Suffolk council insisting they were psychologically ‘unfit’.

The East Anglian couple, whose names have been withheld for legal reasons, fled to Spain in February after their other child, Poppy, now two, was seized by social workers and put up for adoption.

Daniel was still being breast fed in hospital when Spanish authorities, acting on a tip-off from Suffolk, took him away.

The father told the Daily Mail in the UK: “To find our son had gone was cruelty beyond belief.

“My wife couldn’t bear to have another child snatched from her ever again. So she decided to be sterilized there and then.”

It emerges that English social workers were acting on unproven allegations about the mother’s mental health made by her ex-husband.

But after conducting numerous psychological tests, Spain’s social services deemed the couple were perfectly fit to be parents.

“The Spanish social services say we meet all their criteria for being good parents and we’re delighted.”

The decision has spurred the couple to try and get their daughter Poppy back. She is currently being looked after by foster parents, who want to adopt her.

The couple are now taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights to get her back.

The return of Daniel is a break-through for scores of British families who have fled t Spain to escape the clutches of the UK social services.