Methamphetamine Rules: Australian journalist grilled over baby name choice

An Aussie mum who named her child Methamphetamine Rules has come in for harsh criticism during a televised interview.

ABC journalist Kirsten Drysdale was confronted by A Current Affair host Allison Langdon during the tense exchange.

Drysdale registered the name as part of a story - but never expected it to get through.

Drysdale’s story for the ABC’s WTFAQ programme, which seeks to answer viewer questions, was trying to discover what names were legally permissible for newborns.

She was trying to find out what name a baby would be given if the chosen name was rejected by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the then-heavily pregnant woman decided to use her own baby to find out after struggling to get an answer.

“We thought, ‘what is the most outrageous name we can think of that will definitely not be accepted?’” Drysdale told news.com.au.

“Methamphetamine Rules, we thought, would surely get rejected, and then when it does, we can find out what name the Registrar chooses.

“It was really just a lighthearted, curious attempt to get an answer to this question.”

Little Meth won't keep his name for long.

Langdon’s line of questioning was much less lighthearted.

“Did the epidural block the brain? Why would you do this to your baby boy?” Langdon asked.

Drysdale, holding her baby, responded that she pulled off the stunt “in the name of journalism”.

Langdon asked whether “baby Meth” would have problems with forms in the future and asked whether it was a stunt that had been taken too far, saying some would be “appalled”.

“I would hope that there are no parents out there who would seriously call their child a name like that,” Drysdale replied, telling Langdon there was “no lasting harm done”.

The slip-up by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages was revealed when her son’s birth certificate landed in the mail.

“I don’t know how it slipped through,” Drysdale said, “maybe they thought Methamphetamine was a Greek name.”

The birth certificate.

Drysdale won’t reveal her son’s real name, which is due to be legally changed soon.

“Baby Meth’s real name … I’m not publicly disclosing it, because I don’t want it to be attached to this,” she told news.com.au.

“It’s a beautiful name and I can tell you has nothing to do with class A drugs.”

A spokesperson for the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages said: “The Registry has since strengthened its processes in response to this highly unusual event”.

“The vast majority of parents do not choose a name for their newborn baby that is obscene, offensive or contrary to the public interest.”