Justice Alison Russell
Judges
[2015] Mother forced by judge to hand her baby to gay father wins the right to tell her story A mother whose baby was removed on the orders of a judge and given to a gay couple has won the right to tell her story in a victory for free speech. The woman was left devastated by the judge’s decision earlier this year – and was then banned from giving her side of the story by a draconian court order. Justice Alison Russell ruled in April that the mother should not be allowed to keep her 15-month-old child after an alleged surrogacy deal she had struck with two gay men – one of whom is the biological father – broke down. The judge declared that the mother was ‘homophobic’ and had tried to smear the gay father. She also accused the woman of breastfeeding her daughter in a way calculated to ‘frustrate’ contact between the child and her father. But yesterday another High Court judge overturned the decision to gag the mother after she mounted a legal challenge – and described the order as ‘unusually restrictive’. During the hearing, Justice James Holman appeared shocked by the severity of the order issued by Ms Justice Russell. As well as gagging the mother, she had also ruled that the Press could not identify the mother or her child or report anything other than her judgment.