An undated photo shows Sasha colouring in with her crayons at the elite Moscow clinic, where she has lived since birth. Photo / East2WestNews/australscope
An undated photo shows Sasha colouring in with her crayons at the elite Moscow clinic, where she has lived since birth. Photo / East2WestNews/australscope
A five-year-old girl who has spent her whole life in a $24,600-a-month medical clinic will be put into care after her wealthy Russian parents refused to take her home, a judge has ruled.
Judge Natalia Karzhavina heard that when Tatiana Maximova, 44, was told to care for her daughter Sasha, she blamed the medics for saving her when she was born premature.
Karzhavina has ruled that Sasha - who has never been to a park or seen the world outside the Mother and Child Perinatal Clinic in Moscow - is placed in an orphanage or given up for adoption.
Sasha was born prematurely in 2014 and initially needed intensive medical care.
After she was cleared of her health issues over a year ago, the parents continued to pay $24,600 a month so she could remain at the elite clinic.
An undated photo shows Sasha colouring in with her crayons at the elite Moscow clinic, where she has lived since birth. Photo / East2WestNews/australscope
Sources say the couple never took her on visits outside the hospital and rarely visited unless social services were inspecting.
In court, Maximova claimed the child is still unwell and needs to stay so she can be treated by nurses.
The lawyer for the hospital, Anatoly Kleimenov, told the court today that Maximova had "rudely" told medics she hadn't asked them to resuscitate the child.
He added she said they are now responsible for her because they revived her.
Since July 2017 she had "hardly any" visits from her family, Kleimenov added.
When police tried to find Maximova and her businessman husband Yury Zinkin, they found they had moved to a new address.
The hospital said that Maximova claimed she was looking for a job and had been receiving chemotherapy when questioned on why she'd abandoned her daughter.
Maximova and Zinkin are in the process of a divorce and have another three children, who live at home with their mother.
Judge Karzhavina said today that the parents' rights would be terminated and the child placed under the guardianship of authorities.
Nina Savinykh, the lawyer for the father, said: "Our clients have told us they do not refuse to take the girl away, as soon as they receive medical confirmation about her health condition.
"They fear something may happen to the girl."
The parents are concerned Sasha may suffer from apnoea – the sudden stopping of breath – at any moment if released.
But the hospital insists she is healthy and cannot be deprived of a normal life even though nurses care for her well.
