A pregnant woman duped her ex-lover into thinking she had a termination so she could sell his baby girl to her gay friend, a court has heard.
The 29-year-old woman denied the accusation she set the hoax up to make £100 to £300 and said: “I never received any money.”
A jury at Perth Sheriff Court was told a Facebook page was created for a fictitious “Edinburgh lawyer” called Clare Green, who claimed to have been the baby’s surrogate mother.
The accused woman said she had nothing to do with it and she could not remember why her own name was on the page as a friend.
During a police interview the mother denied the baby could have been the biological daughter of her former lover, claiming she was the product of a “drunken mistake” with her gay friend, 35, who is her co-accused.
She said she had sex with her friend “just the once” and denied suggestions that “money may have changed hands”.
In a second interview the woman conceded the baby might have been her ex-partner’s because she had “slept with both of them”.
An agreed joint minute lodged during a hearing last week stated the two accused registered their names as mother and father of the child at Perth registry office.
However, the statement said it was a matter of fact that another man was the biological father.
Both accused, from Perth and Glasgow, face a series of charges alleging they carried out a fraudulent scheme to dupe the NHS, the local registrar, council officials and the child’s real father for nearly three years.
They deny the charges and the trial before Sheriff William Wood continues.