<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A young woman who kept two pregnancies secret and gave birth at home was afraid to speak up in part due to her conservative Chinese background.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When aged 19, the woman gave birth to a girl in 2011 in Sydney's south.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the time, the woman and child's father were in Australia on student visas.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/la-fires-update-los-angeles-wildfires-death-toll-damage-evacuation-orders-latest-news/9cd2c7bb-3f43-41dd-ac6f-165c9c676a83" target="_blank"><strong><span>Hopes tide is turning against Los Angeles wildfires</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2019 the woman gave birth to a boy, delivering him at their south-west Sydney home, again having received no natal care.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Because the children were not born in hospital and their births were never declared, both grew up without any official recognition or documentation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Friday, a tribunal ordered the children be issued NSW birth certificates, overturning a refusal by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/born-raised-in-secret-kids-to-get-birth-certificates/43aa1b0b-1620-48a3-bf5a-6082ebd1ba59" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In its decision, the tribunal accepted the young couple had found themselves in a "difficult situation".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They were afraid to tell their parents, who were in China, because they hold very traditional and conservative views, with cultural norms placing significant pressure on unmarried mothers, especially as she was a teenager at the time," the tribunal said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The social stigma attached to teenage pregnancy cast a shadow over many prospects in her life.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/royal-treasures-hidden-since-world-war-ii-recovered-from-cathedral/ed1d0e0d-dce9-4243-a89d-2241b5ab0f49" target="_blank"><strong><span>Royal treasures hidden since World War II recovered from cathedral</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Fear, confusion and an overwhelming sense of shame kept them quiet and they decided to deal with the pregnancy themselves."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In both cases the woman hid the fact she was pregnant from others, including colleagues, by wearing loose-fitting clothes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Because she and her partner did not know how to nourish her body properly to prepare for the pregnancy, she was extremely skinny at the time and almost always wore loose clothes to hide her protruding abdomen."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As the couple's daughter grew older they were unable to enrol her in school due to the requirement for a birth certificate, instead purchasing textbooks for her to complete daily maths and reading assignments at home.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By the time the second child was born the couple's student visas had lapsed and both were in Australia illegally, further preventing them from seeking help.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The woman gave birth to her son entirely alone, with the father arriving home from work five minutes later.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They thought that if he arrived quickly he could take her to hospital, but he proved unable to make it back in time," the tribunal said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Neither of the children had any serious medical complications requiring intervention and have not received any vaccinations to date.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On one occasion when the boy seriously cut his hand on a piece of glass he was taken to Bankstown Hospital, where without any Medicare information for the child, staff instead took down the couple's contact details and sent a bill to their home.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The couple recently gave birth to a third child who was born in a hospital and received a birth certificate under more conventional circumstances.</span></div></div>

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