‘Little princess’: Labour MP Tamati Coffey welcomes newborn daughter, born five weeks early

Labour MP Tamati Coffey with his newborn daughter at Rotorua Hospital. Photo / Facebook

Labour MP Tamati Coffey has welcomed his second child, a baby girl he called his “little princess”.

The Rotorua-based MP and former weatherman posted photographs of his newborn daughter on Facebook late last night.

“And here she is,” he said. “Made with love (and a little bit of science!) Mum and support crew doing well. Baby girl weighed in just under 3kgs and surprised us by being about 5 weeks early.”

His daughter, whose name was not known, was born via a surrogate, Coffey said.

“Another acknowledgment of the mana of our wahine who choose to give couples, like me and my partner Tim, the gift of life.

“More and more couples are having kids this way, so the law still needs to be changed to streamline the process. As a lawmaker, those changes are my priority this year - now more than ever.

“Welcome to the world my little princess.”

Under current laws, hopeful parents must jump through several legal hurdles before having a baby by surrogacy.

Coffey drafted law changes to simplify this process after the birth of his son, Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey, in July 2019. The changes are being debated by Parliament.