Hope for Japanese kid, docs seek legal custody

ABANDONED: Manjhi's japanese parents got divorced a month before she was born.

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Keywords: Manjhee, Surrogacy

Jaipur: An abandoned ten-day-old Japanese baby born to an Indian surrogate mother finally has some hope. The doctors who are taking care of her are considering legal recourse to claim her custody till her biological father legally adopts the baby.

Manjhi's Japanese parents got separated a month before she was born. Even though her father Ikufumi Yamada still wants to claim her custody, a string of legal hurdles prevent him doing so.

India's laws prohibit the child's divorced father from taking custody of her.

Manjhi, who was born in Ahmedabad, is currently recuperating in a hospital in Jaipur. Her 70-year-old grandmother is currently in Jaipur taking care of the baby.

“There have been some positive developments today; some Delhi and Mumbai lawyers have volunteered to help,” Dr Sanjay Arya, Manjhi’s doctor, said.

Yamada has gone to Japan to consult his lawyers.

Medico-legal experts say both Indian and Japanese laws will have to be taken into account in order to allow Manjhi's father to take her home.

"There are specific laws in India for surrogacy issue but Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given a general guideline which mentions that any child born through surrogacy must be adopted by genetic parents," Head, Life Science and Health Practice, Dr Milind Antani says.

"There is provision in the guideline, which states that in case of a divorce during the gestation period, the law of land pertaining to normal conception applies. In this case, the child was born in India so the child is an Indian citizen. But because her father is Japanese, both Indian and Japanese laws apply," Antani adds.