Those of you who have ever met someone and thought, “now why would your parents name you that? Surely that kind of name should be illegal,” are gonna froth this story. Presenter of the ABC show WTFAQ, Kirsten Drysdale, has legally named her newborn child “Methamphetamine Rules” in order to investigate naming rules in Australia.
On the new show which aims to answer viewers‘ most pressing questions, there was a huge number of people asking what you could legally name your newborn child, and if the government would step in at any point.
In her research Drysdale discovered that there is in fact, no official list of names that you cannot give to a child. However, new parents cannot name a child an offensive term.
But what happens to the child given an offensive name, like say “Methamphetamine Rules”? Would the government step in and change it if the parents don’t provide a better name?
This question became the bane of Drysdale’s existence: what would the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages default a child’s name to?
Throughout the production of the episode, she struggled to find an answer that would satisfy her and her audience. Speaking to legal experts, and spokespeople from the Registry’s media team, but none of them could say exactly what and how a child would be named in lieu of a non-offensive alternative.
So, Drysdale wanted to put this to the test the only way she knew she could get an answer. And thankfully, she was already heavily pregnant…
Resulting in the name of her newborn son officially being “Methamphetamine Rules”.
So she had named the child something offensive. Now all Drysdale had to do was wait five weeks for the government to re-name her child for her.
… Except they didn’t!
Meaning until Drysdale and her husband provide a new name, then welcome to the world Methamphetamine Rules Drysdale. I just know the gifts at your baby shower are going to be lit.
Kirsten Drysdale’s show, WTFAQ, airs Wednesday at 9pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
