ENGLAND: Missing Madeleine's parents have issued a rebuttal to an "offensive" report claiming Portuguese police believe that Gerry McCann is not her biological father.
According to tabloid '24 Horas', Madeleine, conceived using In-Vitro Fertilisation, was the child of Gerry's wife Kate and an unnamed sperm donor. It claimed investigations in Britain had uncovered her biological father's identity.
However, the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell has dismissed the claims as "unwarranted, unsubstantiated and totally inaccurate speculation".
In a statement issued to the media, Mitchell said: "For the record Gerry McCann is the biological father of his daughter Madeleine. A newspaper report in the '24 Horas' newspaper suggesting otherwise is nothing short of lies. It is indeed an absolute fabrication."
Mitchell said the family's legal team was monitoring media coverage and would not hesitate to take legal action "at the appropriate stage" in Portugal or in Britain.
We have up to a year to sue and we will do. Gerry and Kate want to concentrate on the case involving Madeleine and don't want to do anything that may compromise that while they are official suspects.
"But they plan to sue '24 Horas' and any other media outlets that print these claims as soon as the official suspect status is lifted," he said.
The tabloid's co-editor, Luis Fontes, however, insisted he stood by the sperm donor story. "It has been confirmed by the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham, which has carried out analysis on samples taken from the McCanns' apartment and hire car."
The FSS denied it had made any comment on the case. The results of the forensic tests in the case are expected next week.
