Government Requirements & Week 14 Update

This week has seen us emailing the Australian Embassy in New Delhi back and forth and back and forth. The paper trail has us daunted again!

Under Australian law, any child born overseas to Australian parents is required to undergo DNA testing to prove their paternal/maternal link to obtain citizenship.

For us, this means we undergo mandatory DNA testing prior to travelling to India in April and then, once Noddy is born he/she must do the same.

Basically once Noddy is born, our time will be spent as follows:

Obtain birth certificate in Mumbai ~ Around 7 days to have this done

Noddy has his/her DNA test (preferably with the Consul General in Mumbai). The Embassy in New Delhi is considering each case of children born via surrogacy & hopefully Noddy will not have to come to Delhi too.

Once birth certificate is obtained, one of us will have to travel to the Australian Embassy in New Delhi to apply for citizenship by descent & then an Australian passport.

We then (hope) to return to Mumbai and await the courier for Noddy's passport and then off to the FRRO office for an exit visa....Argh!

There's nothing to stress about, right?

WEEK 14

This week your baby is about 80-89mm in length and weighs approximately 25 grams
(0.9 ounces). The head is now about one third of your baby's whole length and the neck continues to get longer, meaning that the chin no longer rests on the chest.

The placenta has fully developed and its rich network of blood vessels is functioning as your baby's life support system. The placenta also manufactures some of the pregnancy hormones. The umbilical cord is also completely mature and is made up of three entwined blood vessels (covered by a fatty layer). The large vein of the umbilical cord carries nourishment and oxygen rich blood to the fetus, while the two smaller arteries are responsible for carrying waste products and carbon dioxide from the fetus to the placenta, which then processes waste. The placenta also passes antibodies that help fight infections from the mother to the fetus. Your baby's circulation continues to develop and he/she can now swallow amniotic fluid, which is excreted as urine. Your baby starts to establish a sucking reflex, and exercises the muscles that will help him/her swallow and breath after birth.

The profile of your baby is now more human, and features such as chin, forehead and nose are are more clearly defined. Fingers and toes are becoming fully formed and the external genitals differentiate. By the end of this week your baby is fully formed. From here, he/she needs to mature.