A judge was compelled to determine whether two children actually exist in a highly unusual and perplexing High Court custody case. Mrs. Justice Arbuthnot was faced with the task of deciding whether the mother or the father was lying about the existence of their supposed twins. The mother claimed the children had never been born, which would have denied the father any right to access.
The father, identified only as AA for legal reasons, insisted that the mother, known as ZZ, was being untruthful and that he had evidence to support his claim. In a ruling on Wednesday, Mrs. Justice Arbuthnot described the case as “perplexing” and “unusual,” admitting she felt as though she had “stumbled into an alternative reality” during the proceedings.
She concluded that there was “strong evidence” the woman had been pregnant and had likely tried to cover it up, indicating “some evidence that at least one child was born.” However, the judge found “insufficient evidence” to confirm the birth of twins and said she “cannot say” where the child is currently.
“This is an unusual case because either [AA] or [ZZ] has lied about the pregnancy and birth of these children for more than three years,” Mrs. Justice Arbuthnot remarked. She further noted, “The lies told by one of them have been complicated, persistent, and very well planned.” During multiple hearings in London between November 2023 and May 2024, the father asserted that he was the father of twin sons who were living with their mother or her family. He claimed the mother had concealed the births from doctors. According to the father, the twins were allegedly born in February 2021, but their births were never registered.
Over the course of two years, the mother allegedly informed him that she was pregnant, had seen a midwife, and even shared details about the babies’ birth weight and resemblance to him. However, the mother denied ever being pregnant and accused her ex-partner of fabricating evidence of the pregnancy as “revenge” for her reporting one of his family members to the police.
The judge determined that some of the evidence supporting AA’s claims was “probably forged.” ZZ’s GP had no records of a pregnancy.
Despite this, Mrs. Justice Arbuthnot ruled that a birth had occurred.
Although the hospital reported that no twins were born there in February 2021, the judge discovered that ZZ had later contacted the hospital to request that none of her medical records be stored or shared with the NHS. The judge concluded that this was part of an effort by the woman to cover up a pregnancy, though it remained “unclear” where the child was actually born.