Adopted Malaysian Girl Is Looking For Her Biological Mother
An adopted girl in Malaysia is seeking her biological mother as she has been deemed a non-citizen due to issues with her citizenship application.
Amanda Lim Kai Xin, 17, holds three birth certificates but has no identity card.
She has struggled to obtain her citizenship as the government does not have information about her biological parents.
Because of this, she pays international student fees and faces several other hurdles as a non-citizen of Malaysia.
Ms Lim now hopes to find her biological mother, who secretly left her in a clinic when she was born, so that she can finally obtain an identity card.
Girl abandoned by biological mother in clinic gets adopted later
On 1 Mar, Ms Lim posted an appeal on Facebook to find her birth mother.
Source: Facebook
She explained that she was abandoned by her biological mother in a Kuala Lumpur clinic when she was born and adopted by another family later.
According to Sin Chew Daily, Ms Lim knew she was adopted since she was eight, but this hasn’t changed anything about her citizenship status.
Her first birth certificate showed her adoptive parents’ names.
But when she turned 12 and applied for her Malaysian identity card (MyKad), problems ensued.
Ms Lim was told that her birth certificate could not be used to apply for a MyKad.
Then, authorities said they had to conduct checks on her birth certificate — a wait that lasted four years.
At 16 years old, Ms Lim received her second birth certificate, but her parents’ information was replaced with ‘unable to obtain information’.
Source: Facebook
Authorities then asked her adoptive parents to go through the adoption process and told Ms Lim that she might either be a Malaysian citizen or a non-citizen.
But after they completed the adoption process and Ms Lim received her third birth certificate, she remained stateless.
Struggles being stateless
Because Ms Lim does not have a MyKad, she cannot get a driver’s licence or open a bank account. She also pays international student fees.
She was informed that she must resolve her citizenship issues before obtaining a MyKad.
“We prepared a lot of information and handed it over to the National Registration Department, which will then be handed to the Ministry of Home Affairs — a process that took 11 months.”
But she was dismayed when her third birth certificate still listed her as a non-citizen.
“My adoptive mother wants to try locating my biological mother because, according to government officials, it will be easier for me to obtain my citizenship,” she told Sin Chew Daily.
“She hopes if my biological mother reads this post, she can contact us, and we’d be really grateful to her,” she added.
Only four years before she turns 21
As Ms Lim turns 21 in four years, she feels nervous about her future. She will be at a loss if she cannot receive her citizenship and identity card by then.
She says she has sought assistance from MPs, but there reportedly haven’t been any follow-ups so far.
“I hope someone can help me,” she said.
According to Sin Chew Daily, Ms Lim has limited information about her biological mother.
She only heard from her aunt that her mother was an 18-year-old student about to enrol in university and gave birth to her secretly.
“My adoptive parents do not know who [my biological parents] are,” she said.
Her adoptive parents did not go through the adoption process when she was young and only did so after she received her second birth certificate.
Abandoned children can apply for citizenship through court application.
According to a lawyer who spoke to Sin Chew Daily, abandoned children can obtain citizenship and an identity card through a court application.
“Although it would be easier if you find your biological mother, there is no need to do so,” he said.
An article in the Malaysian constitution states that any newborn baby found in Malaysia can be deemed to be born by a mother who is a citizen.
The date when the newborn was found will be regarded as the date of birth.
A child born from a permanent resident in Malaysia is entitled to citizenship unless the prosecutor proves their mother is not a permanent resident here,” he explained.
Other documents, including whether the adoptive parents went to the police when they found the child and put out notices to search for the child’s biological parents, are needed to prove that the baby was abandoned.
This, he said, was to prevent human trafficking.
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Featured image adapted from @kaixinnn927_ on Instagram and Facebook.
