A High Court judge has rejected a UK adoption application for a 17-year-old, citing concerns over trafficking and conflicting documents.
A British woman’s attempt to adopt a 17-year-old Nigerian girl has been denied by the High Court, after a judge claimed Bromley Council was right to raise trafficking concerns.
The girl, known as FD, was brought to the UK in 2021 by the applicant, DD, following a claimed adoption in Nigeria in 2019. DD applied for a domestic adoption under the Adoption and Children Act 2022.
Mr Justice MacDonald, sitting in the Family Division, said the evidence about the Nigerian adoption was ‘riddled with inconsistencies.’ He added he couldn’t be sure FD had been legally adopted, that her mother had died, or that the man named as her father was her biological parent.
The case involved multiple conflicting documents, including three birth certificates, different dates for FD’s mother’s death and affidavits the applicant later said were forgeries.
What’s more, the judge noted Nigeria is subject special restrictions under UK law because of concerns about unreliable documentation, corruption and child trafficking.
Bromley Council raised concerns about the Nigerian paperwork and the risk FD may have been trafficked. However, the Children’s Guardian criticised the local authority, saying some issues should have been ‘explored further rather than causing more unfounded speculation.’
Mr Justice MacDonald rejected this. He said: ‘Given the matters summarised…the criticism levelled by the Children’s Guardian at the social worker for raising the possibility of trafficking is not justified.
‘I am satisfied that the local authority was right to examine the possibility of trafficking in this case and to bring it to the attention of the court. It is a matter of significant concern to the court that the Children’s Guardian did not do so.’
The judge also raised significant welfare concerns. DD’s evidence was ‘unconvincing’, leaving him with ‘significant reservations regarding her credibility.’ She appeared unsure about adopting FD, telling the court: ‘I am just helping.’
FD had suffered domestic abuse, including an incident in February 2025 where she called the police after being pushed down stairs. The court also heard that FD, then nearly 18, shared a bed with DD, which the judge said reflected unmet emotional needs.
Despite FD’s wish to be adopted to remain in the UK, the judge said welfare and public policy ruled against the order, calling the application ‘transactional’ and noting DD had not followed legal safeguards.
The judgment will be sent to the Chief Executive of Cafcass over concerns about the Children’s Guardian’s analysis.
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