Rome grants Italian citizenship to seriously ill British child so he can continue treatment

Will such naturalization save the child’s life or increase his suffering? Rome granted Italian citizenship to a seriously ill British girl on Monday. Despite her guilt, the eight-month-old girl found herself at the center of a legal battle in the United Kingdom. Indy Gregory’s parents have begun a battle with British doctors who recommend cutting off life support for their offspring, who suffers from mitochondrial disease.

Caregivers say that further treatment is painful and futile. In response, Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth announced their desire to transfer their baby to the Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome, owned by the Vatican, which offered to treat her. But last week an English High Court judge objected, saying such a transfer would not be in the best interests of little Indy. Less than an hour before Monday’s legal deadline, during which doctors were not allowed to stop treatment, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni convened a council of ministers to grant Italian citizenship to the child.

“They say there is little hope for little Indy, but I will do everything I can to the end to protect her life. And to protect the right of her mother and father to do everything they can for her,” the transalpine leader, whose far-right party promotes traditional Catholic values, said on social media.

Tuesday hearing at London’s High Court

His government said the decision to grant citizenship was made at the request of the parents’ lawyers, adding that Rome had offered to cover the child’s medical expenses. Indy’s father thanked the Italian government in a statement released by the Christian Concern group, which supports the couple. “My heart is filled with joy that the Italians gave Claire and me hope and faith in humanity,” said Dean Gregory. The Italians have shown us concern and loving support, and I would like the British authorities to do the same. »

However, the consequences of this decision remain difficult to determine immediately. A further hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning at the High Court in London. According to a representative of Christian Concern, quoted by the British news agency PA, this should be a place where doctors will have to interrupt the baby’s life support because her parents want to take her home.

In mid-October, the court ruled in favor of the child’s doctors, and the parents’ request to appeal this decision was subsequently rejected. The European Court of Human Rights, sitting in Strasbourg, also rejected the appeal. Indie, born on February 24 in Nottingham, central England, suffers from mitochondrial disease, a condition that prevents the body’s cells from producing energy and for which British health authorities say there is no cure.