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  1. Media Law
May 26, 2009

Daily Mail makes three libel payouts over adoption claims

By Paul McNally

The Daily Mail has paid £10,000 in libel damages to each of three women featured in an article last year about adoption.

Edwina Langley, Lisa Beard-Rogers and Thema Davis complained about a double-page feature in the Femail section which appeared on 5 November last year.

It was headlined: “For most women, giving birth is the most fulfilling event in their lives. But some are so afraid of missing out on their careers and losing their figures they refuse to go through pregnancy and choose adoption instead. Practical, or just plain selfish?”

Carter Ruck, which represented the three women, said the Daily Mail had accepted the allegations contained in the article were untrue.

It said the paper had issued a warning to an unnamed executive who had controlled the re-write, and some of the quotes attributed to the women had been embellished or taken out of context.

The Daily Mail published an apology on 12 February, running down three quarters of a column in the Femail section, to the three women and a fourth, Katharine Parker, who was featured in the article but is not included in the libel proceedings.

It acknowledged that its claims were not true and that each of the case studies had their own different reasons for choosing to adopt.

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“We are happy to clarify these matters and apologise for any distress caused to those featured,” the apology concluded.

In a statement issued today by Carter Ruck, Edwina Langley said: “It would be difficult to overstate just how hurt and upset we were at the way in which the Daily Mail completely misrepresented our views on adoptilon.

“We are pleased that it has now accepted that what it published was completely untrue.”

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