Trader worries for adopted daughter after birth cert blacklisted

IPOH: After paying RM9,000 to an unregistered agent to adopt a child, Cheah Yoon Moy is now worried about the future of her daughter.

The 53-year-old trader paid an agent whom she had met through a friend in Johor to adopt her daughter 14 years ago.

“I was working in Kuala Lumpur and unmarried. My mother was concerned that when I get older, no one would be there to look after me so she asked me to consider adopting a child.

“After asking around, a friend of a friend told me that an agent could help me out. I drove all the way from Ipoh to Johor Baru to adopt my daughter, who was four months old at the time, with a payment of RM8,500,” she told reporters during a press conference held by Ipoh Barat MCA coordinator Low Guo Nan.

Cheah said upon adopting her daughter, the agent also provided her with a birth certificate with her name registered as the biological mother.

“Three months later, the agent asked me to pay another RM500 for a MyKid card. He passed the card to my brother who was staying there at the time.

“I didn’t know much about the adoption procedures so I thought the birth certificate and MyKid were legitimate.

“It wasn’t until my daughter turned 12 that things took a wrong turn. We wanted to get her MyKad, and that was when an officer at the National Registration Department (NRD) told us that her birth certificate was blacklisted.

“I am worried about her future. Right now she is in school but what will happen in the future? Can she still go to university? Can she get her driving licence or passport?

“My daughter deserves a future. It is not her fault it turned out this way.

"The NRD officer told us that we need first to change her status to 'adopted', then we can try to apply for her citizenship. The process will take us years, which will be troublesome if she can't get it before she turns 21,” she added.

Low said when he was assisting Cheah and her daughter, an NRD officer told them about a doctor who was nabbed over alleged involvement in falsifying 200 birth records.

“Cheah’s daughter might be one of the 200 children. In fact, this isn’t the first case reported to me. The parents who called me were not well educated so it was easier for the agent to scam them.

“I hope those who wish to adopt children would go through proper procedures to avoid such cases from happening again,” he said.

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