Manji to unite with father in Japan this weekend

Manji, the Japanese baby born to an Indian surrogate mother and caught in legal bind over citizenship immediately after birth, will finally unite with her father Dr Ikufumi Yamada in Japan on Sunday. Manji was under her grandmother Emiko Yamada’s care for the last three months. A visibly relived Emiko on Friday said, “I had lost all hope. I do not speak English, nobody here understands Japanese and the baby was so young and in legal trouble I could not exactly comprehend. Now there is only relief that I am returning to Japan with Manji,” Emiko said.

However, Manji’s guardian in India and Yamada’s only contact in the country, Kamal Vijaywarghia said, “But it is only for a year after which her future will once again be uncertain. We are looking at more legal options in this case,” Vijaywarghia said.

Vijaywarghia’s relative Kanupriya, a young film maker in Mumbai has started work on an animation movie on Manjhi’s life to focus on laws relating to surrogacy and child rights in India.