Samantha Geldenhuys was abducted as a baby by her own mother, but will stand by her

A WOMAN who was spirited out of America as a baby two decades ago has vowed to stand by the mother who abducted her.

A WOMAN who was spirited out of America as a baby two decades ago has vowed to stand by the mother who abducted her.

Townsville University student Samantha Geldenhuys only discovered her true identity when the FBI and Australian Federal Police tracked down and arrested her mother on Melbourne Cup Day last year.

"A name does not change who you are," said Samantha, whose real name is Savanna Todd.

Her mother Dorothy Lee Barnett, 53, fled the US on a false passport with her 10 month old daughter in 1994 after losing a custody battle against her stockbroker husband Benjamin Harris Todd III.

Samantha leaves court but is standing by mother Dorothy, pictured below

Sam's mum Dorothy

Shock... Samantha Geldenhuys only discovered her true identity when the FBI and Australian Federal Police tracked down and arrested her mother on Melbourne Cup Day last year. Photo: Channel 7

'I've always had a mother, always been loved,' insists Samantha

Samantha leaving Maroochydore Court after her mother Dorothy Barnett was refused bail.

They lived in Europe and South Africa, where Barnett married and had another child, before moving to New Zealand and finally Australia in 2007.

"I've always had a mother. I've always been loved. I've always been protected. I don't feel I have an identity crisis, when I was told I was Savanna Todd or Savannah Barnett, or whatever alias," she said.

Her father has continually updated her bedroom at home in Charleston, Carolina, in the hope that his long-running media campaign would eventually help him find baby Savanna.

News that she had been found sparked a television bidding war with Australia's 60 Minutes, US network CBS's flagship investigative program 48 Hours and ABC's Good Morning America all scrambling for the story which airs tonight exclusively on Today Tonight on Channel Seven.

"I backed my Mum on the first day because I knew who she was and I knew what she did would be for a valid reason," said Samantha.

"But I was brought up not to judge until I see fit and I've read her side and I've read all the docs and I feel that she needs to be heard."

Faye Yager, who claims to have helped Barnett escape the US through her Children of the Underground network, claimed Mr Todd had produced experts to give the impression his wife was mentally unstable and gain custody of Savanna.

She said Mr Todd "stomped on that poor woman like an ant" during their custody battle.

Barnett, who lived under the alias Alexandra Geldenhuys is in custody and facing extradition to the US on abduction and passport charges that carry up 20 years in jail.

Samantha meanwhile has made contact with her father by email and wants assurances from him that he will stop pursuing her mother before she meets with him.

"Savanna can be a remembrance of what happened 20 years ago but Samantha is who I am and who I will be," she said.