Family court battle: Mother, daughter split apart after father takes child to China

A mother’s hopes of seeing her daughter again have been scrapped, after her ex-husband forged her signature on the child’s passport application, took her to China without permission, and cut off all communication.

A mother’s hopes of ever seeing her daughter again have been stripped away, after her ex-husband took her to China without permission.

A mother’s hopes of seeing her daughter again have been stripped away, after her ex-husband forged her signature on their child’s passport application, took her to China without permission, and cut off all communication.

Sharyn Bai has no legal recourse to bring her daughter, Cynthia, home, and cannot guarantee they will be reunited, as China is not a signatory to The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Family Court judge Gillian Eldershaw last month described the father’s behaviour as “egregious” and sympathised with Ms Bai, but could do little more than suggest the mother file a new application if the father, Jordan Guanya, and Cynthia return.

“I have read and re-read the facts set out in the material several times since the matter came before me in March 2023,” the judge said. “No level of exposure reduces the profound sadness they invoke. I can only imagine the grief experienced by Ms Bai and the confusion for Cynthia.”

Ms Bai and Mr Guanya married in China in 2008. Ms Bai gave birth to Cynthia in Australia in 2011, and the couple were divorced by March 2013. Following the divorce, the couple agreed to share custody: Cynthia would live with Ms Bai in Sydney, and spend one or two days a week and one or two days in holidays with Mr Guanya.

On January 21, 2021, Mr Guanya sought to redraw the custody agreement. Interim orders resulted in Cynthia spending five nights a fortnight with him, and half of each school holidays while the family awaited a court decision.

Despite the interim arrangement, Cynthia has been living with Mr Guanya full time since August 3 last year. When asked by the court to explain this, Ms Bai deposed: “I did not like or want this arrangement to take place, but I felt I had no choice as Cynthia would run away from home when she would stay with me, and Mr Guanya would keep Cynthia when she arrived there.”

Ms Bai said she arranged to meet Mr Guanya in late September to discuss “consent orders to finalise the matter and avoid the need for a final hearing”.

She alleged that Mr Guanya ­responded: “(Cynthia) doesn’t want to spend time with you. She may forgive you when you are older, or she may not want to talk to you ever again.”

Mr Guanya allegedly then proposed Cynthia live in China and spend one month a year with Ms Bai – a suggestion Ms Bai rejected.

Despite Ms Bai’s wishes, on October 14, Mr Guanya lodged a passport application for Cynthia with the intention of taking her to China. He forged Ms Bai’s signature, recorded her address as his and faked her mobile number.

Ms Bai deposed that. On December 22, she sent a message to Mr Guanya on WhatsApp asking to speak to Cynthia. She didn’t receive a response, and would later discover the pair had boarded a flight for China that day.

On December 25, Ms Bai spoke to Mr Guanya and asked whether he was still in Sydney. The father responded: “Yes, I am.”

On January 16, the couple’s court-mandated counsellor alerted Ms Bai to the fact she hadn’t been able to organise an appointment with Mr Guanya.

Throughout late January and early February, Ms Bai reached out to Cynthia’s school, NSW Police and Mr Guanya’s solicitors to find out where they were.

After she found Mr Guanya’s staff profile on a Chinese university’s website on February 16, her suspicions were confirmed that he had left the country, and taken Cynthia with him.

Judge Eldershaw awarded Ms Bai $88,162 in indemnity costs, and put Cynthia on the Australian Border Force Family Law Watchlist. She dismissed the custody proceedings at a hearing in June, which Mr Guanya did not attend.

The names in this story have been changed to preserve anonymity.