A BABY BOY who was born on a flight between Bahrain and the Philippines, and found abandoned in a rubbish bin, may be put up for adoption.
The baby was named George Francis after Gulf Air’s flight code GF and is currently doing well.
“He is well. He takes a lot of milk, but he is being observed because there was a bump found on his head. But as far as the report from his checkup goes, his condition is good,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman told The Associated Press.
The authorities are still searching for the mother of the newborn. Soliman said that officials have identified a person who occupied a bloodstained seat on the plane but are still verifying if she is the boy’s mother.
The newborn infant was discovered when a security officer noticed movement in one of the rubbish bags left on the tarmac in Manila airport on Sunday.
When he opened one of the bags he saw the tiny infant, still attached to the placenta, wrapped in tissue and covered in blood.
Doctors and nurses at the airport clinic cared for the baby, cleaning him, wrapping him in fresh blankets and giving him milk.
The Bahrain-based airline said the baby was discovered in an airplane toilet trash can, suggesting the mother gave birth in the bathroom during the flight.
The mother is suspected of being a Filippino migrant worker, employed in the Middle East.
According to the local law, it takes a minimum of three months to declare a baby abandoned. If George Francis’s mother is found this case, she will have to be assessed to see if she is a suitable parent, Soliman said. However, she added that what the mother did is “an indication of her inability to take care of the child.”
Although the baby appears to be Filipino, he may be given a Bahraini nationality if it is confirmed he was born on the Gulf Air aircraft. Children born during a flight are entitled to citizenship of a country where the plane is registered.
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