A Wimbledon woman has won the right for her dead lover’s name to be included on her daughter’s birth certificate, nearly 25 years after he died in one of the world’s worst air disasters.
Susanne Bayly, 51 of Coombe Lane gave birth just three weeks after Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa died on Japan Airlines Flight 123 in August 1985. This meant her lover’s name was omitted from the birth certificate of daughter Diana.
But a landmark ruling by the Foreign Office has allowed a name to be posthumously added for the first time, and could entitle Ms Bayly’s daughter to stake a claim on Mr Yukawa’s estate.
But according to the Wimbledon artist, that was never the motivation for seeking the change.
“As soon as I heard this might be possible I felt deeply moved, I feel like I’ve been able to bring Aki back to the present after all this time.”
Her 23-year-old daughter, who grew up in Wimbledon, is now famous in Japan as a violinist after playing at a memorial service for the 520 victims from the Flight 123 tragedy.
Ms Bayly, who won the right to have the birth certificate amended with the help of Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, is vowing to fight for similar recognition under Japanese law.
This will potentially allow both Diana and her elder daughter Cassie, 27, also fathered by Yukawa, to fight for a share in his estate.
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