Latvian couple lose UK fostering fight

♦ A Latvian couple who feared that their two-year-old son would lose the ability to speak his native language if he stayed with British foster carers have lost a legal battle to have him sent to their home country.

The boy has been temporarily placed in foster care after social workers raised concerns about his welfare. His parents said decisions about his future should be made at courts in Latvia and that he should be allowed to live with foster carers in Latvia who speak Latvian and Russian.

But a judge in England has ruled against them after a family court hearing in Leeds. Recorder Darren Howe said the couple had been in England for a “considerable time” and the little boy was “settled and well cared for” at his foster home.