Australian couple abandon surrogate twin with Down's syndrome in Thailand

[zwiebel]

'Surrogacy campaigners have called for clearer regulations after claims by a Thai woman that she was left with a baby with Down's syndrome after his Australian parents refused to take him but instead took his healthy twin sister.'

'Australia's department of foreign affairs is examining the Thai surrogacy trade. "The Australian government agencies are examining these issues in consultation with authorities in Thailand," a spokesman said at the weekend.'

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...y-australia-ban-thailand-downs-syndrome-gammy

 

[zwiebel]

That article I just linked says little girl had initial health problems too, so parents left her for a month in Thailand, before taking her back to Australia.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but if bio parent/s knew surrogate mom is poor and couldn't pay for medical treatment.....does that mean they just waited to see if Gammy's sister survived without proper medical intervention, before claiming 'their' baby?

 

[jjenny]

That article I just linked says little girl had initial health problems too, so parents left her for a month in Thailand, before taking her back to Australia.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but if bio parent/s knew surrogate mom is poor and couldn't pay for medical treatment.....does that mean they just waited to see if Gammy's sister survived without proper medical intervention, before claiming 'their' baby?

Some babies need to stay in the hospital. Which is what this sounds like. Especially if they are premature (which is common in multiple births).

 

[Mrs G Norris]

A large part of the problem here is because of the Australian government regulations around adoption and surrogacy .. it's so difficult to do either in this country that people go overseas out of desperation ..

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Victorian humanitarian Moira Kelly leads calls for ill infant Gammy to be treated in Melbourne

VICTORIAN humanitarian Moira Kelly is leading a push to have Gammy, the seriously ill twin abandoned in Thailand by his Australian biological parents, brought to Melbourne for treatment.

Ms Kelly said she had written to the Australian-run charity, Hands Across the Water, which is helping the Thai surrogate mother with medical expenses, to offer her expertise in getting the six-month-old boy to Australia.

.....

Ms Kelly, who founded the Children First Foundation, brings two young people to Australia each year for medical treatment.
She said Gammy’s case would be more straightforward than her other humanitarian cases because his parents were Australian.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...ted-in-melbourne/story-fneuz9ev-1227012314027

Looks like things are moving re getting him over to Australia for treatment

 

[Frigga]

Victorian humanitarian Moira Kelly leads calls for ill infant Gammy to be treated in Melbourne

VICTORIAN humanitarian Moira Kelly is leading a push to have Gammy, the seriously ill twin abandoned in Thailand by his Australian biological parents, brought to Melbourne for treatment.

Ms Kelly said she had written to the Australian-run charity, Hands Across the Water, which is helping the Thai surrogate mother with medical expenses, to offer her expertise in getting the six-month-old boy to Australia.

.....

Ms Kelly, who founded the Children First Foundation, brings two young people to Australia each year for medical treatment.
She said Gammy’s case would be more straightforward than her other humanitarian cases because his parents were Australian.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...ted-in-melbourne/story-fneuz9ev-1227012314027

Looks like things are moving re getting him over to Australia for treatment

This is really great news! Thank you Moira Kelly- I'm a fan of yours now!

 

[jjenny]

This is really great news! Thank you Moira Kelly- I'm a fan of yours now!

The surrogate says she wants to raise him. So if they want to take the baby for treatment they need to bring the whole family with him. Because the child seem to have bonded to surrogate and her children, it would be cruel to separate them at this point.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

AN AUSTRALIAN couple accused of abandoning baby Gammy — a Down syndrome child born to a Thai surrogate — say there is more to the story than people have been told.

The couple was contacted by 9News after they were identified by the baby’s surrogate and denied they were the parents of baby Gammy.

While the couple admitted they had a baby girl about the same age as baby Gammy and that they had used a surrogate, they say she did not have a twin brother.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/pa...a-thai-surrogate/story-fnet085v-1227012256324

Sounds like the people around them have put two and two together and now they're just not going to admit that their daughter is one of twins and this is her brother ..

The surrogate mother of abandoned baby Gammy in Thailand has identified a couple from Western Australia as the boy's parents.
Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/...ng-baby-gammy-deny-claims#twd2U2mcFHJKxYm2.99

OK well if she named them, but they say Gammy is not their baby, so how did she know their names? Pretty sure it wouldn't be too hard to prove that she had twins, that Gammy is one of them, and that the other is a girl who is now being raised in Australia. Unless they're going to say that somehow she had one twin that was theirs and another twin for 'someone else' or something?

 

[BatWoman]

Normally the child is accompanied by one parent or part of the family while the child is in hospital/recovering, then they return home.

I seriously doubt the bio parents will be admitting that he is their offspring any time soon. :facepalm:

 

[jjenny]

If they only had one child, what more to the story could there be? And if there were more to the story, why not say what it was? Sound like they don't want to admit it.

 

[Meryl12]

The mother of baby "Gammy" is only 21 years old and seems to be quite poor, I believe she did not fully understand what she doing. She was not being paid much, and has not yet been fully paid. Thus surrogacy racket is run by criminals, Gammy's mother has not yet been fully paid the full 300,000 baht which is only $10,060.00 AU, I wonder what their excuse is.
This really looks like they have exploited a kind loving but impoverished young lady, she clearly loves Gammy and he is better off with her. The $10,060.00 AU she was promised really is not much money, in my opinion. That is exploitation, in my opinion. I am glad someone has stepped in to help her.

 

[Ausgirl]

The mother of baby "Gammy" is only 21 years old and seems to be quite poor, I believe she did not fully understand what she doing. She was not being paid much, and has not yet been fully paid. Thus surrogacy racket is run by criminals, Gammy's mother has not yet been fully paid the full 300,000 baht which is only $10,060.00 AU, I wonder what their excuse is.
This really looks like they have exploited a kind loving but impoverished young lady, she clearly loves Gammy and he is better off with her. The $10,060.00 AU she was promised really is not much money, in my opinion. That is exploitation, in my opinion. I am glad someone has stepped in to help her.

^ As if Thai women aren't exploited enough already..... For goodness sake, they haven't even paid her? That's truly terrible and sounds like exploitation, to me.

As to the ethical dilemma of leaving their son there.. I really do not have a set opinion either way. Too tangled, both sides are right and wrong in several ways. And tis is why surrogacy laws should be drawn up by the UN and apply world-wide, or something. This is a *human rights* issue!!!

One firm opinion I do hold is that the surrogacy laws here in Aus need to change, or people will just continue to create these situations. I offered to surrogate for a lesbian couple with fertility/child carrying issues many years ago now, but it was deemed just too hard, thanks to the potential legal nightmare. It was really sad, I was very happy to help.. Some people in this country have NO problem offering surrogacy as a gift to a childless couple. I say: make the laws firm but fair, and then let them!

 

[Brightbird]

Is it possible that the Australian parents don't/didn't know about Gammy? I don't imagine these surrogacy agencies to be very ethical. If the surrogate mum was asked to abort Gammy, and she chose not to, could the surrogacy agency have lied to the Australian parents and said she did abort him? I suppose it wouldn't be very good for business if the surrogate mums don't have an abortion when asked to. Maybe the agency would want to hide that. I read yesterday that the bio parents never have contact with the surrogates. It's all mediated through a surrogate agent. Maybe I'm just hoping the Australian couple didn't leave him simply because they didn't want him.

 

[Ausgirl]

I wonder then, if it's the agency who has not paid the surrogate?

 

[Cherry]

I think there will come a time when people stop being bleeding hearts and realize that attempting to keep everyone alive is the wrong thing to do. One day, our resources will be gone. They are already dwindling. If a life cannot be lived to a full extent happily healthy, that's not a life. One day we will be forced to do the correct things, decisions like this and worse. There won't be enough food or room. Defects should not be bred. Not in people, or animals. Defects, whether congenital or not, shouldn't always just be. One day society will Hv to make the right choice, not one that saddles a couple with thousands in debt for so called care. Jmo.

 

[Charlie09]

I think there will come a time when people stop being bleeding hearts and realize that attempting to keep everyone alive is the wrong thing to do. One day, our resources will be gone. They are already dwindling. If a life cannot be lived to a full extent happily healthy, that's not a life. One day we will be forced to do the correct things, decisions like this and worse. There won't be enough food or room. Defects should not be bred. Not in people, or animals. Defects, whether congenital or not, shouldn't always just be. One day society will Hv to make the right choice, not one that saddles a couple with thousands in debt for so called care. Jmo.

Who decides which condition is livable and which one isn't? what is pefect? No genetic issues but what about personality flaws like lack of empathy?

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

 

[Frigga]

I have to leave this thread.

I can't imagine what motivates some people.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

I think there will come a time when people stop being bleeding hearts and realize that attempting to keep everyone alive is the wrong thing to do. One day, our resources will be gone. They are already dwindling. If a life cannot be lived to a full extent happily healthy, that's not a life. One day we will be forced to do the correct things, decisions like this and worse. There won't be enough food or room. Defects should not be bred. Not in people, or animals. Defects, whether congenital or not, shouldn't always just be. One day society will Hv to make the right choice, not one that saddles a couple with thousands in debt for so called care. Jmo.

A downs syndrome child can live life to a full extent. Perhaps I should ask my friend L****** what he thinks of that. He has DS and recently got back from a trip to Poland where he performed with a musical group, he is also in his own band and does part time work. Not only that, but he is a great kid to sit down and have a conversation with, funny and bright .. he is also a great pool player and one of the nicest people you would ever meet.

 

[jjenny]

Is it possible that the Australian parents don't/didn't know about Gammy? I don't imagine these surrogacy agencies to be very ethical. If the surrogate mum was asked to abort Gammy, and she chose not to, could the surrogacy agency have lied to the Australian parents and said she did abort him? I suppose it wouldn't be very good for business if the surrogate mums don't have an abortion when asked to. Maybe the agency would want to hide that. I read yesterday that the bio parents never have contact with the surrogates. It's all mediated through a surrogate agent. Maybe I'm just hoping the Australian couple didn't leave him simply because they didn't want him.

From what surrogate says, it doesn't appear to be possible, as father was in the hospital after the infants were born.

 

[T4Tide]

After having a blessed little girl in my life with Down Syndrome, I can't help but wonder who exactly is "defective"..... her..... who loves unconditionally, lights up a room with her contagious smile, and never struggles to make a friend? Or those of us with typical chromosomes who struggle to see the value in someone if they aren't perfect?