Woman pretends to have abortion, gives baby to gay friend

A mother in Scotland who pretended to have an abortion so she could secretly give the baby to a gay friend has been jailed for three years.

The woman’s 35-year-old friend – who raised the baby as his own for three years before the deception was discovered – was also jailed for the same period, the Telegraph reports.

Perth Sheriff Court

During the six-day trial at Perth Sheriff Court last month, the jury heard that the 29-year-old woman told the child’s father she had terminated the pregnancy, before giving the baby to her friend, who wanted a child of his own.

The court also heard that the woman may have actually sold the baby to the co-accused for as little as £100.

The pair signed a birth certificate and claimed to be the child’s natural parent, before setting up fake social media accounts for a woman they claimed had been used as a surrogate.

Jailing the pair, 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.”

He added that they had denied the father the opportunity to bring up his child, and a social work report indicated their actions were likely to have caused lasting psychological trauma to the child.

The girl’s real father – who has since taken since taken custody of the little girl – reportedly shouted “Yes” as the sentences were handed down.S

Speaking after the trial last month he said he was “over the moon” with the verdict adding: “It’s going to take years and years of battle to try and make my daughter understand. That’s the biggest part of it that hasn’t really been in the case, the emotional trauma for my little girl.

“What they did was pure evil. They must have known the effect this would have on my daughter and me and they still went through with it.”

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