A panel of judges in the United Kingdom denied an appeal from parents to take their daughter, who suffers from a rare disease, to Italy for treatment.
The judges said that Italy’s desire to take 8-month-old Indi Gregory in for treatment under Hague Convention rules was “wholly misconceived” and “not in the spirit of the convention.” Italy has granted the infant citizenship and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has reached out to the U.K.’s Lord Chancellor to coordinate travel to bring the young child to Italy.
The parents of Indi, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, have sought to leave the U.K. to find treatment for a rare mitochondrial disease their daughter has. Judges with the Court of Appeal denied their requests, upholding a previous ruling from Justice Robert Peel that Indi must be taken off life support.
“Claire and I are again disgusted by another one-sided decision from the judges and the Trust. The whole world is watching and is shocked at how we have been treated,” Dean Gregory, Indi’s father, said.
“Claire and I have always wanted what is in Indi’s best interests. She has human rights and we wanted her to have the best treatment possible. If the UK did not want to fund it, why can she not go to Italy and receive the treatment and care which the amazing Italian Prime Minister and government has offered,” he added.
Lord Justice Peter Jackson, Lady Justice Eleanor King, and Lord Justice Andrew Moylan also ruled against the parent’s request to bring Indi home if she had to have life support removed.
In an interview with Daily Wire host Michael Knowles on Friday before the court’s decision was announced, Dean said that he was “embarrassed to be British” and that all he wanted to do was get treatment for his daughter.
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“As a parent in the U.K., when you go to the courts, you’ve got no rights, you’re set up to fail. Everyone is against you. My daughter is not brain dead, she’s moving, she’s breathing, she’s alert,” he said. “It’s all down to money. It’s all down to cost and resources in the U.K.”
He said the doctors and courts in the U.K. didn’t think his daughter’s life was “worth the cost,” saying that Italy was doing everything it could to help while the U.K. refused. “Why can’t my country help,” he asked.
Italy’s government has said that it would pay for treatment at Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome.
“There is a hospital prepared to care for Indi in Rome. Indi’s parents desire to give her every chance they can. Why would anyone try to stop this happening for them and for her?” Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said. “To continue to deny them this opportunity is unimaginable.”