A Belgian couple who commissioned a surrogate mother to carry a baby for them are to appeal against a Dutch ruling awarding custody of the child to a Dutch family who bought her over the internet.

The girl’s biological father had sought a surrogate mother because his own wife was infertile. Baby Donna was born in 2005 using his sperm. However instead of handing over the baby as agreed, the surrogate mother said she had miscarried and sold the baby to a Dutch couple in Leusden.
Since then, baby Donna has been the subject of a string of court cases in Belgium and the Netherlands. Last year, a court in Arnhem gave the man the right to visit his biological child but turned down his demand that the child be returned to him.
The Belgian couple, who live in Antwerp, have always regarded themselves as the child’s real parents. They call her Valentina.
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Biological father to appeal in internet baby battle