Bittersweet and about time: a baby comes home

Six years after a tragic, but innocent, mistake was identified, a family gets to return home to Canada. The couple from Toronto went to India and had twins, a boy and a girl, using the services of a surrogate. The eggs were donated, the husband used his sperm.

After the babies were born the couple headed to the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi to establish their children’s identity and Canadian citizenship. That’s when, through blood tests, it was discovered that the boy was not the man’s biological son. The daughter’s DNA did match. Canadian authorities would not allow their son into the country.

The family has stayed in India for the last six years waiting for their appeals to the Canadian government to be heard. Unceremoniously this week, news came that the boy would be able to apply for citizenship based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Michael Battista, the couple’s attorney in Ottawa, said he wasn’t sure what led to the change of heart. The couple has reacted with cautious optimism. “After what they have been through, it was a subdued reaction and a little untrustworthy,” said Battista. “They were anxious to know what the details of the settlement were. They are overjoyed now and hoping to return soon.”

The couple could have returned with their daughter but refused to abandon their son. Genetically related or not, he was family. They relocated to India where they had no friends or family, to wait for the decision. “It will be quite a struggle to re-establish,” concluded Battista.

That might be so, but nothing compared to what they family has endured thus far.

Source: The Star