Heartbreaking twist after Sydney tradie Dan Gaut's fight to save daughter from adoption

An Aussie dad who made a frantic sprint to America to prevent his baby daughter being given up for adoption had last minute help from an immigration agent.

Ahmad Shady from law firm Longton Legal revealed how he did everything he could to get Sydney tradie Dan Gaut's baby girl to Australia and succeeded in getting her citizenship at incredibly short notice.

But the victory was short-lived with the girl's mother, Liv, reneging on an agreement that Mr Gaut could raise little Ana and deciding instead that she wanted to keep her.

How the heartbreaking ordeal unfolded 

Mr Gaut met Liv on a trip to San Francisco and the pair fell madly in love before she returned to Australia with him.

After falling pregnant, Liv decided to temporarily return to the US to be closer to her support network.

But, once there, she informed him she would be staying and their little girl would be put up for adoption.

A stunned Mr Gaut pleaded with Liv and and the pair made the agreement that, if he could be in Texas shortly after she gave birth, Ana could return to Australia with him and he could gain custody.

She has since rekindled an old relationship and changed her mind saying that she wanted to raise Ana.

Immigration agent stepped up to help - but it was already too late

Mr Gaut flew to America just after Liv gave birth and met his daughter.

As he was scrambling to make preparations to bring Ana back to Australia he found she did not have Australian citizenship automatically despite his nationality.

Mr Shady saw Mr Gaut's story after it went viral in February and stepped up to offer his services pro-bono. 

The immigration agent had a similar experience when his ex-wife died overseas while caring for their two young daughters and he had to fight to bring them to Australia. 

He was able to secure citizenship, which normally takes weeks if not months to process, for Ana in just 48 hours 

'Obviously his story resonated on a personal level,' he told news.com.au.

'I personally had to go through the traumatic, bureaucratic maze of bringing children from overseas.'

Mr Shady reached out via social media to Mr Gaut and then got Ana's mother to consent to the Australian citizenship. 

He lodged an application with government on March 13 that explained every day the application was delayed was a day the tradie was unable to work,

He also explained the delays brought the risk Liv would change her mind about the agreement.

The application was approved two days later but despite the speediness it was not before Liv did decide to keep Ana.

'I feel terrible for (Mr Gaut) of course. As a father of daughters, my heart would be absolutely broken,' Mr Shady said.

Dad remains hopeful his daughter will be able to grow up in Australia 

Mr Gaut took to Instagram to explain how shattered he was at the decision.

'Liv has changed her mind and wants to keep Ana in the States and be her primary caregiver,' he wrote.

'I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who supported me on this journey.

'I will use the remaining donations to seek legal representation in Austin and to visit Ana as often as I can.

'I still hold strong the vision of Ana growing up in Australia in the not too distant future.'

Her citizenship does not expire and Ana is now free to live in Australia at any point but it has no bearing on the custody situation.

She also is a US citizen by birth.

Mr Gaut previously told ACA how he learned Ana could be put up for adoption while Liv had 'temporarily' returned to the US. 

'She was starting to send me adoption options for people that she knew in Texas, and she was sending me the links to the Instagram page,' he said.

'And I was like, 'No, this is wrong, stop, don't promise her to anyone'.'

A GoFundMe was launched last month to raise fund to help Mr Gaut in his fight which he said he will now use to hire a legal representative in the US to pursue his custody options.