Hospital denies claims that British couple dumped newborn twins 'because they were girls'

It had been claimed that the mother aged 59 and the father 72, had abandoned the babies after telling medics they were the 'wrong sex' because they wanted boys.

However Wolverhampton hospital today said that the parents were being  'attentive' to the babies' needs .

A spokesman said: "The parents are visiting their daughters whilst they are being cared for in hospital and are attentive to their needs."

Abandoned: The babies were delivered by Caesarean at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, West Midlands

It had been claimed that the babies, who are now less than two weeks old, were abandoned soon after birth and have not been visited once by their parents.

The couple travelled to India for fertility treatment but returned to Britain for the birth. The twins were born by Caesarean Section at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.

Their mother - one of Britain's oldest - reportedly discharged herself against the advice of doctors who told her she should stay in hospital for a week after her operation.

She and her husband are thought to be of Indian descent but British residents living in the West Midlands.

Aftter the birth in Wolverhampton, the children were transferred to another hospital in Birmingham.

A spokeswoman for New Cross Hospital said today: 'We can confirm a pair of twins were born at New Cross Hospital. They were healthy and well.

'They were born here because the maternity (facility) where the parents were living was busy, so a few days later they were transferred to a Birmingham hospital, where the parents were living.'

In certain Asian cultures, sons are more highly prized than daughters because it is believed they will work from a younger age and carry on the family name.

In India, girls are considered an economic burden as their parents traditionally need to provide a dowry payment for them when they get married - often resulting in financial ruin or extreme hardship for many families when the women marry.

Last year, research revealed that between 1990 and 2005, about 1,500 fewer girls were born to Indian mothers living in England and Wales than would have been statistically probable for this group.

In the Nineties, 112 boys were born for every 100 girls. Between 2000 and 2005 this rose to 114 boys for every 100 girls.

A report last year revealed Indian women in Britain are travelling to the subcontinent to use the services of IVF doctors who for 4,000 rupees (about £49), will reveal the sex of an unborn child and recommend someone who can terminate the pregnancy.

It is thought that the couple may have travelled to India for IVF due to their late ages. In Britain, women are given IVF on the NHS between the ages of 23 and 39.

There is no absolute age limit for IVF in Britain, but the NHS will not fund it for women aged over 40. Most private clinics have an upper age limit of 55. Many other older women have gone abroad for IVF.

Britain's oldest mother, Patricia Rashbrook, paid £10,000 for IVF treatment in Russia using a donor egg.

Child psychologist Dr Rashbrook became pregnant under the supervision of Italian fertility expert Professor Severino Antinori, and her son JJ was born by elective caesarean.

IVF treatment has sparked an emotive debate over the rights and wrongs of giving women who are many years past their natural childbearing age the ability to reproduce.

The controversy was again in the spotlight last year after Carmela Bousada, an unmarried Spaniard then aged 67, became the world's oldest mother.

She gave birth to twins after lying about her age to doctors at a private clinic in Los Angeles which refuses to treat women over 55. Miss Bousada, who came close to death during a difficult pregnancy, went through the menopause 19 years ago.

Last night, a spokesman for New Cross Hospital said: 'We have no comment to make due to data protection reasons.' 

In 2006, it was revealed a businesswoman dumped her new-born twins in a cardboard box in a hospital car park because they were the product of an affair.

The married 44 year old, who has three grown-up sons, said she could never reveal the truth of the twins' birth to her family because of the devastation it would cause.

The babies, born a month premature had to be put in incubators because they were so cold and were named Holly and Joseph by nurses.