November 3, 2023
SINGAPORE – Malaysia’s Queen has expressed her wish to adopt a toddler whom she called “a child from heaven”, after an encounter in Sarawak with the girl, who was born with excessive facial and upper body hair and without nostrils.
Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah met two-year-old Missclyen Roland on Sept 10 during a tour of the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak with the Malaysian King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah.
Tunku Azizah also offered to pay for the child’s school expenses and medical treatment.
“I hope that this assistance will alleviate the burden on Missclyen’s father in providing care and raising her,” the Queen wrote in a letter dated Oct 10 to the girl’s parents.
The letter was shared on Facebook by Missclyen’s 29-year-old mother, Ms Theresa Guntin, who said that the offer was “a big honour”.
She also had a message for her daughter: “You are so lucky. We hope everything will go well.”
Her husband Roland Jimbai, 49, said he cried from happiness when he read the letter.
“I did not expect that our brief meeting that day attracted the attention of Her Majesty to the extent of taking Missclyen as her adopted child,” he told local daily Borneo Post.
The father of four also told New Sarawak Tribune: “This means our little Missclyen is a princess, and we will call her Princess Missclyen.”
The girl was diagnosed with congenital generalised hypertrichosis, a rare disease characterised by excessive hair growth all over the body. It is sometimes referred to as werewolf syndrome.
She was also born without nostrils.
Mr Roland, who works as a welder, hopes that life will now improve for his youngest child, especially her health and education.
“My family has experienced social stigma in the past because of Missclyen’s looks and condition. However, starting from today and as she grows up, she will always be respected because the Queen is adopting her,” he said.
He also expressed hopes to meet the royal couple again.
Mr Roland and his family had waited five hours to meet the King and the Queen, whom they had seen only on television and social media.
Their patience paid off when the royal couple took pictures with Missclyen, and the Queen carried and hugged the child.