Renee describes herself as a "smart, single woman", who has no children of her own. She says: "I have a wonderful sense of humour and a suppor-tive family".She also has shrewd business sense. Renee, from Arkansas in the United States, lists her requirements for the deal she wants to strike: payments can be made monthly, a contract will have to be signed, and she expects medical and life insurance, plus a clothing allowance, travel expenses and doctors' costs.At first glance, it looks like a particularly confident wish-list from a job-hunter who just knows she's in demand and can call the shots. And in a way, it is. Renee, you see, is of-fering to conceive, carry and then hand over a baby to any-one who has the money.At $8,500 (£4,600) plus the expenses and insurance, Renee's offer is one of the more reasonable ones on www.surromomsonline.com, the American-run website where Keighley's Moira Green-slade is alleged to have offered her baby for sale. Sharrell, from Michigan, says her base rate is £8,000 for example, while Michelle of Sacramento wants £19,000 compensation plus £275 per attempt at conceiving.This week Greenslade, 33, of Fell Lane, pleaded guilty to three charges of obtaining money by deception and three offences under the Adoption Act. Bing-ley Magistrates Court was told on Monday how she made £2,500 by offering her services as a surrogate mother to three separate couples.She is now awaiting her fate at the hands of the Crown Court, after mag-istrates decided they didn't have the powers to confer a stiff enough punishment on Green-slade, who was granted condi-tional bail.Following the court hearing Ch Insp Mick Hop-wood, of West Yorkshire Po-lice's child and public protec-tion unit, described the people who had been conned by Greenslade as "victims" and "people who were desperate to adopt children." He described Greenslade's crimes as "exploi-tation of these people's expecta-tions".It's a rather sordid con-clusion to a story that began amid the pastel colours and fluffy birth announcements on surromomsonline.com, which features advertisements from organisations called things like "Tiny Treasures egg donation agency" and surrogacy agen-cies which promise they are the places "where dreams become reality".Aside from Moira Greenslade's fraudulent at-tempts to sell the same baby three times, what exactly does the law have to say about sell-ing babies?Surrogacy is a valid and legal alternative to UK couples who cannot conceive children themselves. An or-ganisation called COTS - Child-lessness Overcome Through Surrogacy - offers advice, help and support to surrogate moth-ers and the parents who will receive the child when born.They say: "Surrogacy is legal in the UK. The main pro-viso is that no money other than 'reasonable expenses' should be paid to the surrogate. While there is no strict defini-tion as what constitutes ' rea-sonable expenses' it is left up to the individuals involved in a surrogate arrangement to come to an agreement regarding these expenses. Any costs in-curred by a surrogate that are as a result of the pregnancy would be regarded as ex-penses."But although not ille-gal, surrogacy is not actually covered by any binding agree-ments. So if the surrogate mother decides at the last min-ute to keep her baby, or to can-cel the agreement and perhaps enter into another agreement with a different set of adoptive parents, there is little recourse in law. Where the law does step in is in cases like that of Moira Greenslade, who ac-cepted money and spent it on family holidays before cancel-ling the deal.It is also illegal to actually advertise your ser-vices as a surrogate mother, or for childless couples to adver-tise for a baby. The internet, of course, has muddied the waters even further because in many countries surrogacy-for-cash is not illegal, but access to those websites is readily available here in the UK.Of course, no-one would doubt the pain and anguish that is suffered by couples who are unable to con-ceive themselves yet are des-perate for a child.Surrogacy, of course, is only one option. Bradford Social Services en-courages such couples to offer homes to children through fos-tering and adoption.According to social services: "Adoption is a lifetime commitment to a child. When you adopt, you be-come the child's legal parent. They will usually take your surname and will inherit from you just as if they were born to you."People choose to adopt for a variety of reasons, the most common being simply a desire to share some of the good things they have with a child who is less fortunate. Couples may well have gone through a great deal prior to considering adoption and we understand that for some people adoption is their only option. Being unable to have children can and does affect people in a big way. So for some adopting a child makes their family feel com-plete."All the children needing adoptive families have one thing in common: a longing for a place in a family. Many of the children in the Bradford dis-trict are from a variety of back-grounds and racial groups. They are mainly white or of dual heritage (Asian/white or African Caribbean/white) with many children aged two or over. There are also groups of brothers and sisters who want to stay together in a new fam-ily."Fostering is more short-term, but no less love is needed by the children involved - sometimes, even more. "Fam-ily problems sometimes make it impossible for children to continue living with their par-ents or other close relatives. When this happens, Social Ser-vices have to take over parental responsibility and arrange for children to live with a foster carer. This is usually a tempo-rary arrangement, although some foster placements become more permanent."Many chil-dren and young people in Brad-ford in need of your help are not ordinary children. They may have dealt with consider-able trauma, neglect or been abused and received little love or affection in their short lives. So patient carers are needed to give love and understanding to help a distressed child settle down."l For more information about fostering and adoption in Bradford, contact the Social Services on 01274 434331.