High Court judge Peter Jackson said the mother had behaved in "a wicked and selfish way" that almost defied belief.
The judge said the woman, an American living in Britain with three adopted children, hatched the plan after she was prevented from adopting a fourth.
The plan involved attempting to inseminate her eldest daughter with syringes of sperm purchased over the Internet.
An initial pregnancy ended in miscarriage but the daughter gave birth to a baby boy from donor sperm when she was 17.