A baby, conceived after her mother had a secret affair, must be adopted to avoid becoming the victim of an honour killing.
Senior judges rejected an appeal by the baby’s father, who wants the child to live with him and his wife.
The mother is keen to have the baby adopted to prevent her own family from finding out about the birth.
Lord Justice Munby, Lady Justice Black and Lord Justice Kitchin said in a statement that the situation involved “exceptionally difficult adoption proceedings.
They also imposed wide reporting restrictions, banning publication of all names and locations associated with the case.
An appeal by the father was rejected by the appeal court last July, for fears that if the child went to him, there was a high risk of “two and two being put together.”
The judge said that since the baby is not the child of his wife, who has a child of her own, suspicions could arise.
She also ordered that the baby should be adopted by a Muslim couple from the same country as the mother, but from a different community.
If the child’s maternal grandfather discovered the affair, it would bring the most “unimaginable shame to him and his family”, the judge added.
The appeal court said, “It was plainly the judge’s view that this might provoke action to preserve the family’s honour.”
Since December, the child has been under the care of a couple, who the mother plans to turn into adoptive parents.
