« I flew across the world to give birth on a beach but now I’m stranded off the coast of Grenada »

A British mum-to-be who flew 4,000 across the world to give birth on a beach is now « stranded » off the coast of Grenada with her four month old baby.

Iuliia Gurzhii, 38, and husband, Clive, 51, « feel like prisoners » after getting stuck unable to register her newborn’s birth or apply for a passport.

The couple left Tameside, Manchester, and were travelling to Rodney Bay, St Lucia, so Iuliia could fulfil her dream of the most « natural » birth on a beach there.

But her waters broke at sea – and baby Louisa was born on April 23, 2023.

And ever since, they have been in a battle against bureaucracy to get her home.

To make matters worse, they left daughter Elizabeth, eight, in the UK because they couldn’t get her passport renewed.

Initially they were told by a hospital they couldn’t register her birth because she was more than 24 hours old.

Then an immigration office said they needed proof the baby was theirs, before a passport office said they couldn’t help because the couple had no proof of where Louisa was born.

And now they claim the UK High Commission said they needed a DNA test – which they are still waiting to get the results for.

Feeling « stranded and abandoned » and running out of money, the pair say they don’t know how they will get back to the UK.

Clive, a sports coach, from Tameside, Manchester, said: « We have been passed around different agencies and nobody will help us.

« We are running out of money. We will soon run out of food, and nobody is helping us.

« We are essentially stateless – we are more than abandoned. We are prisoners in a country that we are not allowed to leave. »

The couple left the UK in March 2023 when Iuliia was 35 weeks pregnant and headed to Martinique.

They then headed to St Lucia after they picked up the boat in Martinique, and gave birth at sea off the coast of Rodney Bay.

Louisa, was born at 12:40am, weighing 3kg.

A few days later, the parents went to the Owen King European Union (OKEU) Hospital, in St Lucia, to get checked over and register their daughter’s birth.

But they claim they were told they couldn’t because it was not within 24 hours of her birth.