A gay couple from Twente have been ordered in court to hand back a baby born to a surrogate mother because her own husband turned out to be the father, the AD said on Monday.

Stefano Franke and Arnout Janssen had chosen the woman to carry their child after finding her online. The woman, who already had three children, pledged to have safe sex with her husband while trying to conceive on their behalf.

She gave birth on May 8 to a healthy girl and the couple, who were at the birth, took the baby home. However, dna tests on baby Hayley showed that neither Franke or Janssen was the birth father.

The surrogate mother and two men were in court last Friday to finalise the adoption, when the woman said she and her husband wanted to keep the child. The court agreed with them.

After one more night with Franke and Janssen at their home in Enschede, the baby was picked up by social workers on Saturday.

‘As gay parents, you actually have no rights,’ Janssen told the AD. ‘Everything depends on the mother’s willingness and good faith. Apart from an internet checklist, we had nothing on paper.’