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

[they'll get you]

New home for Gammy in Thailand

The surrogate mother raising baby Gammy after he was allegedly abandoned in Thailand by his West Australian parents will get a new home and receive about $530 a month to care for him.
******** has raised $241,620 for Gammy and is now redirecting donors to Hands Across The Water.
The property would be held in a trust for Gammy for about the next 20 years and the family would also receive about $530 a month, Mr Baines said.

Mr Farnell is being investigated by WA authorities after it emerged he had been jailed in the 1990s for indecently dealing with three girls.

An assessment of the case was put on hold while Pipah and Ms Farnell travelled to China after the death of Ms Farnell's mother, but the pair have now returned to WA.

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/lif...me-for-gammy-in-thailand-20141001-10ocxt.html

 

[they'll get you]

Man sexually abused two children born via Thai surrogate, NSW court hears

A man has gone on trial in New South Wales accused of sexually abusing two children born via a Thai surrogate.
He has pleaded not guilty.

In opening statements today, the prosecutor told the jury the case was based on allegations the man encouraged one of his children to touch him while the other was present.

The court heard that after the matter was reported to police, officers discovered several computer disks owned by the accused containing deleted files of child .

The defence argued the real issue is whether the event "actually happened at all".

The jury of 10 men and two women were urged to pay close attention to the children's evidence.

The accused's barrister said they must be satisfied that what they hear is truthful and reliable and not the result of "suggestion, concoction or imagination".

The trial is expected to run for the rest of the week.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-...thai-surrogacy-child-sex-abuse-charge/5954954

 

[Lulu14]

I have been reading on and off about this case. From what I know, the surrogate mother had agreed on aborting the fetus, should there be any issue, but backed off when the time came. Honestly, she should be the one getting sued, since she broke the contract. It wasn't her genetic material to decide to carry on with the pregnancy or not.

 

[jjenny]

I have been reading on and off about this case. From what I know, the surrogate mother had agreed on aborting the fetus, should there be any issue, but backed off when the time came. Honestly, she should be the one getting sued, since she broke the contract. It wasn't her genetic material to decide to carry on with the pregnancy or not.

Since abortion is illegal in Thailand, she couldn't have signed a contract agreeing to one. It would be an illegal contract.

 

[Brightbird]

I have been reading on and off about this case. From what I know, the surrogate mother had agreed on aborting the fetus, should there be any issue, but backed off when the time came. Honestly, she should be the one getting sued, since she broke the contract. It wasn't her genetic material to decide to carry on with the pregnancy or not.

What you're suggesting is forced abortion and I don't think that's legal anywhere. Well, maybe North Korea.

 

[zwiebel]

Baby Gammy has been granted Australian citizenship. His mother says she doesn't intend to move to Australia but is reassured to know he will be cared for by the Australian government if she should die.

http://news.yahoo.com/australia-giv...-081338871.html;_ylt=AwrSyCW5FL5U6B8A7CnQtDMD

 

[JLSChook]

So, this child abusing monster was able to keep his purchased "baby GIRL" without anyone giving a s***?

I just now read through this entire thread and couldn't wait to get to the end. I was SURE that this precious baby girl would have been taken away from this monster. Nope, I was wrong.

I'm going to vomit.

 

[Supernovae]

^I notice that decision wasn't posted to the thread at the time but this Guardian article offers some detail:

http://www.theguardian.com/australi...mmy-will-be-allowed-to-keep-twin-sister-pipah

The WA child protection minister, Helen Morton, said her department conducted a “comprehensive safety and wellbeing assessment” of the infant after revelations her father, David Farnell, had been jailed for child sex offences in the 1990s.

As a result, the department has put into place a safety plan with the support of family, community members and professional support agencies.

“The members of the safety network are all well aware of the issues involved, their role and responsibility in the child’s safety and wellbeing, and have formally agreed to report any future concerns to the department,” Morton said in a statement.

She said she was satisfied the plan and interim orders granted by the WA family court will provide for the child’s safety.

“There will be continual and rigorous testing of the safety plan, as well as continued support provided,” the minister added.

Here's another interesting article:

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/d...-david-farnell-had-child-20140923-10l6j4.html

The West Australian Parliament has heard that the niece of convicted paedophile David Farnell contacted the Department of Child Protection to report that her uncle had a child in his custody months before the baby Gammy saga hit the headlines.

The Opposition has called for the state's child protection minister to have her portfolio stripped over revelations her department was aware Mr Farnell had a child in his care for months before its staff made contact with the family.

...

On Tuesday night, Child Protection Minister Helen Morton was questioned in WA Parliament about when she learnt of the case.

Ms Morton told Parliament the state government was aware of Mr Farnell's 22 child sex offences in mid-May.

His history of child sex offences surfaced in August but when questioned, Ms Morton made no mention of having prior knowledge of the situation. Her department only made contact with the Farnells after the media attention.

Ms Morton told parliament "on the 15th of May, 2014, information was provided to the Department of Child Protection and Family Support that a Mr Farnell had been previously convicted for child sexual abuse offences and had a child in his care through an unknown arrangement".

"However at that time Mr Farnell's address and circumstances were unknown," she said.

"After ascertaining Mr Farnell's whereabouts, attempts to contact the Farnell family commenced immediately via home visits on the 4th of August 2014, on the 6th of August 2014.

"Telephone contact occurred between Mr Farnell, other family members and the department."

After Opposition child protection spokesman Stephen Dawson asked when the department first made contact with the Farnell family, Ms Morton said their home was visited on August 4.

Ms Morton said the delay came about because the South West team was overstretched at the time and had not correctly assessed the case as being a high priority.

The person who had provided the tip-off had spoken in a very guarded way, so the information was "fairly scant and a bit sketchy, and hard for the department to follow through with", Ms Morton said.

"No address, little information about the child and how it came to be in that place et cetera - there was a paucity of information," she said.

"This, I think, was a case of staff having too much to do at the same time."

Ms Morton said the case was still being assessed by the department but the process had been held up because Mr Farnell's partner, Wendy, had gone to China after the death of her mother, and taken Pipah with her.

"In the meantime, we've been having daily contact with Mr Farnell," Ms Morton said.

On Wednesday, Premier Colin Barnett revealed in Parliament that it had been one of Mr Farnell's nieces who provided the information to the department about Mr Farnell having a child in his custody.

He said the department "should have acted in a quicker way and in a higher priority".

 

[fruity]

There has been another case come to light.

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/04/14/04/01/australian-couple-abandon-surrogate-baby-in-india

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Gammy's dad tries to claim charity money

The biological father of baby Gammy has reportedly tried to access charity money raised for the boy’s medical costs.

"The funds were donated by everyone because of the alleged actions of Mr Farnell, and to think he believes he has some right of claim over it ... I find it perplexing," Peter Baines said.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...es-to-claim-charity-money#fG4rBe1ulBklsCY1.99

 

[catswhiskers]

The darn cheek of him - to help with legal costs he claims.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/baby-gammys-father-trying-to-access-donations-charity-claims-20150518-gh4mve.html?&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=social&eid=socialn%3Afac-14omn0012-optim-nnn%3Apaid-25%2F06%2F2014-social_traffic-all-postprom-nnn-smh-o&campaign_code=nocode&promote_channel=social_facebook

 

[Walk A Mile]

It blew my mind how his community seemed to be aware of his pedophile past and yet support him, and his family too. I thought he must be a uniquely nice guy to have people prepared to overlook his horrible past and vouch for him.

I don't know how that support gels with this baby-abandoning, dishonest, greedy, self-serving sub-human we keep seeing in the media.

 

[jjenny]

The darn cheek of him - to help with legal costs he claims.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/baby-gammys-father-trying-to-access-donations-charity-claims-20150518-gh4mve.html?&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=social&eid=socialn%3Afac-14omn0012-optim-nnn%3Apaid-25%2F06%2F2014-social_traffic-all-postprom-nnn-smh-o&campaign_code=nocode&promote_channel=social_facebook

Is this guy for real? This money was collected for the child, not for his legal costs. He has left the child.
I can't believe he would think he has any rights to the money.

 

[they'll get you]

It blew my mind how his community seemed to be aware of his pedophile past and yet support him, and his family too. I thought he must be a uniquely nice guy to have people prepared to overlook his horrible past and vouch for him.

I don't know how that support gels with this baby-abandoning, dishonest, greedy, self-serving sub-human we keep seeing in the media.

I'm hoping the little girl in his care has 24/7 supervision.

 

[they'll get you]

"It's perplexing. I don't understand it on any level," Mr Baines said.

"The funds were donated by everyone because of the alleged actions of Mr Farnell, and to think he believes he has some right of claim over it ... I find it perplexing."

Mr Baines said more than 6,000 people had donated around $235,000 to the foundation since details of the Gammy case were made public.

He said he was not certain how much of the money Mr Farnell was seeking.

"The money was donated through the goodwill of people from not just Australia, but across the world, for the immediate care and for the long-term care of Gammy," Mr Baines said.

"We've taken all steps we can as a charity to ensure that 100 per cent of those funds that we donated go directly to Gammy now and for the future."
Speaking to the ABC, Ms Chanbua asked if Mr Farnell had "gone insane to think like this".

"He does not deserve or have any rights to the fund as he abandoned Gammy in the first place," she said.

"People donated money for Gammy and not for anyone else.

"Even though I am Gammy's mother, I don't have any right to take it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-...ther-tries-to-access-raised-donations/6479346

 

[they'll get you]

WA couple can keep Gammy's sister

The West Australian couple accused of abandoning baby Gammy with his surrogate mother in Thailand because he had Down syndrome has been allowed to keep the child's twin sister Pipah, the Family Court has ruled.

Bunbury couple Wendy Li and David Farnell attracted international headlines and criticism when it was revealed in 2014 that they had taken home the healthy twin sister and left the surrogate mother with Gammy - along with the cost of raising him.

WA Family Court chief judge Stephen Thackray ordered that Pipah continue to live with the couple.


Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...e-can-keep-gammy-s-sister#8lYzYJ2Hl7hQOs7y.99


http://www.9news.com.au

 

[Lilibet]

I can't help but wonder how the "favored" girl baby will feel when she learns that her twin brother was banished by her adoptive parents. The linked NYT article is by a woman who never knew her Down Syndrome brother until he was on his deathbed at age 60. Although she makes a few too many excuses for my taste and gets blasted by some commenters, I do understand that the prevailing attitude that led her parents to discarding her brother was accepted in her environment. She wasn't enough of a rebel to do the right thing years earlier and she really regrets not being part of his life. I hope this little girl in Australia will be able to have a relationship with her brother. As a twin, I imagine she will always feel incomplete. So sad and so wrong. JMO

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/my-banished-brother/

 

[Karo]

I just watched that on the news, the Judge ruled that they didn't abandon Gammy?
How is that possible?
:tantrum:

WA couple can keep Gammy's sister

The West Australian couple accused of abandoning baby Gammy with his surrogate mother in Thailand because he had Down syndrome has been allowed to keep the child's twin sister Pipah, the Family Court has ruled.

Bunbury couple Wendy Li and David Farnell attracted international headlines and criticism when it was revealed in 2014 that they had taken home the healthy twin sister and left the surrogate mother with Gammy - along with the cost of raising him.

WA Family Court chief judge Stephen Thackray ordered that Pipah continue to live with the couple.


Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...e-can-keep-gammy-s-sister#8lYzYJ2Hl7hQOs7y.99


http://www.9news.com.au

 

[Lilibet]

I'm confused about the last paragraph in this article...

The Farnells had good reason to believe the surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua and her husband, Nid Chanbua had wanted to keep their unborn boy and were also angry no testing was done earlier that would have alerted them to the child having Down syndrome so they could have considered that option, he said.

Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...e-can-keep-gammy-s-sister#H63C0i7rUyTEVGHJ.99

They were angry no testing was done earlier? Weren't they paying medical bills? So they could have considered what option? Keeping him? They needed more time to get used to the idea? Or forcing her to abort the baby, which is illegal in Thailand? They sound like they are playing the victim. And the judge agreed? JMO

 

[jjenny]

I'm confused about the last paragraph in this article...

The Farnells had good reason to believe the surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua and her husband, Nid Chanbua had wanted to keep their unborn boy and were also angry no testing was done earlier that would have alerted them to the child having Down syndrome so they could have considered that option, he said.

Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...e-can-keep-gammy-s-sister#H63C0i7rUyTEVGHJ.99

They were angry no testing was done earlier? Weren't they paying medical bills? So they could have considered what option? Keeping him? They needed more time to get used to the idea? Or forcing her to abort the baby, which is illegal in Thailand? They sound like they are playing the victim. And the judge agreed? JMO

Who knows. What option were they supposed to have been considering if they knew this child had Down syndrome earlier? They couldn't force surrogate to have an abortion (and it's not even legal in Thailand). So what option would they be considering?
Judge also ruled the bio-dad is low risk to abuse his daughter they did take (bio dad is a convicted sex offender).