New Year's Baby Loses Crown

A contest congratulating the New Year's first baby has come under fire after sponsor Toys "R" Us stripped a Chinese-American infant of the prize, saying she was disqualified because her mother was not a legal United States resident.

The company's decision — which came less than a month after it opened its first mainland China store, in Shanghai — has infuriated some Chinese-American advocates.

Yuki Lin was born at the stroke of midnight at New York Downtown Hospital, according to hospital officials.

She won a random drawing with two other babies for a $25,000 savings bond, said Toys "R" Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh. The Wayne, New Jersey company had said it would go to the first American baby born in 2007.

Yuki was born an American citizen. But the company disqualified her because "the sweepstakes administrator was informed that the mother of the baby born at New York Downtown Hospital was not a legal resident of the United States," Waugh said.

Although promotional materials called for "all expectant New Year's mothers" to apply, Waugh said eligibility rules required babies' mothers to be legal residents. Many sweepstakes have such requirements, Waugh said.

Attempts to reach Yuki's parents, Yan Zhu Liu and Han Lin, 22, were unsuccessful early Saturday. Their immigration status was not clear.

The prize went instead to runner-up Jayden Swain, born 19 seconds after midnight at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Georgia. The third baby in the running was born in Bay Shore, New York, to a couple from El Salvador.

Some Chinese-American advocates are assailing the outcome. They say the award was for the baby, not the mother, and the toy company's decision smacks of second-class citizenship.

"People are just pretty much outraged," said John Wang, president of the New York-based Asian American Business Development Center.

Albert H. Wang, an attorney, has launched an e-mail campaign on the issue.

"She was deprived of $25,000 intended to be used for her college education because of who her parents are," he said.

On the other side, Janet K. Keller, a grandmother of the winning baby, said revisiting the contest would be unfair.

"She was disqualified — that should be it. Don't go changing your mind now."