Last summer, a woman arriving at Gatwick Airport from Nigeria was arrested after UK authorities suspected she had brought a baby into the country under false pretenses.
The woman, known in court documents as “Susan”, had been living in West Yorkshire with her husband and children. Prior to her trip to Nigeria, she told her GP that she was pregnant. However, medical examinations—including scans and blood tests—revealed that she was not expecting a child, but instead had a tumour that doctors feared could be cancerous. Susan declined treatment.
Despite the test results, Susan maintained she was pregnant, claiming her pregnancies were typically undetectable via scans. She told her employer, “my babies are always hidden,” and even stated that she had been pregnant for up to 30 months with previous children.
In June 2024, Susan travelled to Nigeria, later contacting her local hospital in the UK to report that she had given birth. Her claim raised suspicions among doctors, who alerted children’s services.
Upon her return to the UK with a newborn baby girl—referred to in court as “Eleanor”—Susan was stopped and arrested by Sussex Police on suspicion of child trafficking. She was later released on bail, and the investigating police force confirmed there is currently no active investigation.
Following her arrest, DNA tests were conducted on Susan, her husband, and Eleanor. The results showed that neither Susan nor her husband had a genetic link to the child. Susan initially insisted she was the baby’s mother and demanded Eleanor be returned to her, but when the results were confirmed by a second test, she altered her story.
Susan then claimed she had undergone IVF treatment in Nigeria before moving to the UK in 2023, using donor egg and sperm, which she said explained the lack of a genetic match.
To support her revised account, Susan provided a letter from a Nigerian hospital—allegedly signed by the medical director—stating she had given birth there. She also submitted documentation from a second clinic referring to the IVF treatment, along with photos and videos that she claimed were taken in the hospital’s labour suite.
However, the images did not show a clear view of Susan’s face. One photo depicted a naked woman with a placenta and umbilical cord still attached.
This case is one of a growing number that child protection experts say may point to a troubling pattern—babies being brought into the UK through illegal means, including from so-called “baby factories” in Nigeria.
