An Australian journalist decided to see if an inappropriate name for her son would be accepted, and she was left shocked after the experiment went very awry.
ABC TV reporter Kirsten Drysdale wanted to test the limits of the Australian government's baby name registry by naming her newborn son after a drug, certain that the government would flag it and reject the name.
The opposite happened. So, ladies and gentlemen please welcome Kirsten's new bundle of joy, Methamphetamine Rules Drysdale.
Drysdale's experiment came after members of the public had repeatedly asked on her news show WTFAQ what exactly the government's stance is on naming babies.
When the government refrained from directly answering the question, Drysdale, who gave birth in July, decided to take matters into her own hands and get to the bottom of the question, like any good journalist would.
Using the New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages registry's online system, she entered the name Methamphetamine Rules Drysdale, certain it would be rejected for obvious reasons. She told ABC TV
“We thought, what is the most outrageous name we can think of that will definitely not be accepted?"
"Methamphetamine Rules we thought would surely get rejected, and then when it does, we can find out what name the Registrar chooses."
But she and her presenting partner, Chas Licciardello, quickly found out they had spoken too soon. The name was approved "very quickly" according to Drysdale. The registry told The Guardian that the name "unfortunately slipped through" its systems.
The Australian government prohibits names that include profanity, sex acts, or official titles like Queen or Prime Minister. But apparently drugs are just fine!
On social media, people couldn't believe how easy it was to name a baby after a highly illegal substance—and of course there were plenty of jokes.
my kid was going to be the first one. this is really irritating.— $ (@$) 1695220658
Amazing. Pregnant journo can't get an answer to "what does the child get called if the registry rejects a name choice?" so submits a terrible name for the kid... and it doesn't get rejected.\n\nAnyway welcome to the world Methamphetamine Rules Drysdale.\n\nhttps://t.co/RFKoIYKwbd— A-24 Thunderbolt II (@A-24 Thunderbolt II) 1695167925
Disgusting, everyone knows Methamphetamine is a girl's name— dane \ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfe\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddfe\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 (@dane \ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfe\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddfe\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3) 1695218201
@nypost The most shocking part of this story is that it did not happen in Florida.— Joseph Ferris (@Joseph Ferris) 1695137067
Jesse from breaking bad if he had a baby— \ud83d\udd78\ufe0f\ud83c\udf52chey\ud83c\udf52\ud83d\udd78\ufe0f (@\ud83d\udd78\ufe0f\ud83c\udf52chey\ud83c\udf52\ud83d\udd78\ufe0f) 1695224164
I could only imagine how this is gonna go\u2026— Ethan Peppers (@Ethan Peppers) 1695229727
Shorty just finished binge watching Breaking Bad— J*tta \u2655 (@J*tta \u2655) 1695218860
This woman creating her son— Sigma Male (Happy World Daddy) (@Sigma Male (Happy World Daddy)) 1695276731
Everyone making fun of poor Methamphetamine Rules\u2019s name, remember that\u2019s a person, they\u2019ll have to grow up with it just like their sisters Bong Water and K-Hole Shrooms did— The Vampire Lesthot \ud83e\udd87 (@The Vampire Lesthot \ud83e\udd87) 1695119801
Drysdale and her husband have of course since changed their baby's name to something more... normal, or at least not drug-related, and Drysdale says they plan to use the debacle as a funny 21st birthday story for their son.
