LAWAS, March 27 — Labo Agong and his wife Ginom @ Mada Tibur did not hesitate when they were asked by another couple if they wanted to adopt their yet to be born baby 12 years ago.
The childless couple who had been married for many years desperately long to have a child.
“We immediately agreed as we really wanted a baby and at the time as we were both in our late 40s,” said Ginom.
She added that the biological mother had to give birth in Miri to make it easier for them to adopt and register the baby.
“When it was near her delivery date, I flew to Miri and stayed in a hotel for one week until the baby was born.
“Then I brought her back here and we have never been separated from Regina since,” said Ginom, 60, when met here Friday.
Little did the couple know that it would be a very long, difficult, costly and never ending journey to make them legal adoptive parents.
According to Ginom, as Regina’s biological parents were stateless with citizenship yet to be determined, they face difficulty trying to register the adoption of Regina as her birth certificate also shows her citizenship as yet to be determined like her biological parents.
“We have been trying to at least register her adoption first, and apply for her citizenship later but have failed so far,” lamented the loving mother.
They had gone to the National Registration office here (Lawas) twice to register Regina’s adoption, but to no avail. During the couple’s first attempt when Regina was a month-old, they were told by a NRD officer that her adoption could not be registered as her biological parents are not Malaysians.
“When we went the second time a few years ago, one of the officers told us that we have to use a lawyer,” Ginom said.
The couple who did not make much, spent all they had to pay a lawyer who promised to get them an adoption certificate. After payment of RM5,500 as revealed by several official receipts, the lawyer told them he had not done it yet upon enquiry.
Feeling cheated, the couple stopped seeing the lawyer and until today, there is still no news about the adoption certificate.
Regina is now a Primary 6 pupil in a government primary school here despite her citizenship status as her adoptive parents are forking out annual school fees of RM120 as a ‘foreign student’.
“All is not plain-sailing though. When Regina was in Primary 2, she was stopped from attending school for about four months because of her citizenship status. Thankfully, she resumed school after I found out that I could register her as foreign student. All we want is for her to get an education just like other children,” said Ginom.
The couple are worried about Regina as they know that without proper documents, her future is bleak.
Regina turned 12 this February 3 but cannot apply for a Malaysian identity card as her citizenship status is undetermined.
“She is not a citizen of this country or any other country. All we want as her adoptive parents is for Regina to be registered as our adoptive child and for her citizenship status to be changed to a Malaysian,” the couple added with hope. — Borneo Post
