Washington, March 2 (Reuters): ?Baby 81,? the infant who became Sri Lanka?s most celebrated tsunami survivor, made his debut on US breakfast television today to raise funds for quake victims back home.

Gurgling at news anchors who clamoured to hug the four-month-old, Abilass Jeyarajah appeared on ABC?s Good Morning America show with his parents, whose custody battle was settled only after court-ordered DNA tests proved he was their son.

?God only knows why they didn?t give him to us,? the boy?s father, Murugupillai, told ABC of the wrenching custody fight, which quickly became an international news story.

Abilass was seen by many as a beacon of hope for bereaved parents whose children were swept away by Asia?s December 26 tsunami, which killed nearly 40,000 people along Sri Lanka?s palm-fringed shores alone.

Ripped from his mother?s arms by raging waters, Abilass was found alive amid debris on a Sri Lankan beach and taken to a hospital where staff gave him the nickname as he was the 81st person taken to the hospital after the tsunami struck.

His parents, hearing a baby had been found, rushed to the hospital but were not allowed to take him home until DNA tests proved the little boy was their son.

Eight other desperate parents had also claimed the child.

The child's mother told ABC she did not like the name ?Baby 81? and wanted people to call her son by his real name Abilass, which meant hope and joy.

?Baby 81 is a name associated with sadness and worry,? said Jenita, who had at one stage stormed the hospital under the glare of television cameras to take home her son when she heard another family was going to claim him.

?I was fighting for my child. That was all I was doing,? she told ABC.