Biological father of 'Internet Twins' says he's in position to care for the girls

NEW YORK (AP) -- The biological father of the twin girls at the center of an international custody dispute said Tuesday that he is "in a good position to take care of my daughters."

A British court ruled Monday that the girls, born in America and adopted by a British couple through an online service, should be returned to Missouri to have a court decide who should raise them.

Aaron Wecker, the girls' father, told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that he wouldn't characterize his estranged wife's competing claim to the children, but "I think I make a better parent."

He had consented to the 9-month-old girls' adoption when they were born last year, but said Tuesday he had been led to believe they would live in the United States.

The girls were first taken in by a California couple, then given to a British couple, Judith and Alan Kilshaw of Wales, who paid a larger fee to the Internet adoption service that both couples had consulted.

The British justice, Andrew Kirkwood, said in his ruling Monday that the twins would be placed in foster care in Missouri pending rulings there on their future, and he said arrangements for taking them out of Britain would be confidential. The Kilshaws were considering whether to appeal.

After the adoption became publicized, a court ordered the twins placed in foster care pending a decision on custody. Subsequently, the Kilshaws' adoption was voided by a court in Arkansas that ruled that neither the British couple nor the twins' mother, Tranda Wecker, had established residency in Arkansas.

Monday's court session was punctuated by two outbursts outside chambers by Mrs. Kilshaw.