Home and Away spoilers follow from Australian-pace episodes, which some UK viewers may prefer to avoid.
Home and away aired a major cliffhanger for Tane Parata’s ongoing baby storyline in Wednesday’s Australian episode (April 3).
Tane disappeared with baby Maia, just when it seemed that she was about to be reunited with her mother.
The Summer Bay favourite grew attached to the newborn baby after finding her abandoned on the beach a few weeks ago.
After rescuing Maia and getting her to safety, Tane insisted on staying by her side to look out for her. However, his growing obsession with the baby soon landed him with a legal warning to stay away from the hospital.
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More recently, Roo Stewart agreed to become a foster carer for Maia, buying Tane time to register as an Australian citizen so he could ultimately take on the fostering responsibility himself.
This plan ended in a further setback for Tane, as another foster family became available before Roo’s paperwork could go through.
In Wednesday’s Australian-pace episode, Tane’s friend Dana Matheson committed a serious breach of hospital protocol by sneaking him in to see the baby.
Dana felt guilty that Maia would be taken away to her new family without Tane getting a proper chance to say goodbye.
A troubling situation played out when Dana naively left Tane alone in the hospital room with Maia, believing that he’d just spend a final few minutes with her. The gym boss seemingly had other ideas as he disappeared with Maia altogether.
Dana was mortified as she returned to the room and found that Tane and Maia were nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, Rose Delaney reached a breakthrough in the Maia mystery following her latest public appeal for the baby’s mother to come forward.
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A woman claiming to be Maia’s mum contacted the police, looking to be reunited with her daughter. But could Tane’s drastic decision mean that this doesn’t happen?
Ethan Browne, who plays Tane, recently told TV Week: “Tane feels failed by the system. He believes he’s doing what’s right for Maia, which is all that matters to him.”