Parents Accused Of Abandoning Surrogate Baby İn Thailand

Thai authorities are closely examining the kingdom's regulations on child "surrogacy" after an international outcry over an Australian couple's decision to leave a child born to a surrogate mother in Thailand on discovering it had Down Syndrome.



The couple has been accused of abandoning the child on learning it had the condition, while they say that they wanted to take the boy -- named "Gammy" -- back to Australia but were prevented from doing so by Thai doctors as he had a heart condition, which would not allow him to survive beyond a few days.



The case has shone a light on the world of commercial surrogacy in Thailand. There is no law set up to deal with such situations, and for years numerous agencies have specialized in providing, for a fee, surrogate mothers for foreign couples unable to have children of their own. 



One regulation that does exist, however -- from the Medical council of Thailand -- requests that the surrogate mother belongs to the same family as one member of the infertile parents.



"Gammy's case shows the negative effect from not using a blood relative as the surrogate mother," Tanes Krassanairawiwong, the deputy director-general of the Thai Department of Health Service Support, said this week.



"Even though it is not strictly illegal, morally it is very wrong."



Last year, the Australian couple, whose identity has not been made public, hired a 21-year-old Thai food stall owner through a Thai agency to be artificially inseminated and carry a baby for them. In January of this year, the woman gave birth to twins, a girl and a boy. 



But on discovering the boy was affected with Down Syndrome and had a heart condition, reports said the couple left him with the mother and took the girl who was healthy -- the surrogate mother accusing them last week of abandoning the boy.



The story was broken last week by popular Thai daily Thai Rath and immediately picked up by Australian media. It quickly went viral on the Internet and when a website was created by Australian charity Hands across the Water last Friday to collect funds to help the handicapped boy, donations flew in.



"We have been pleasantly surprised by the massive reply. It was not something we expected in the first place," Peter Baines, the chairman of Hand across the Water, told the Anadolu Agency this week. 



He added that over 5,000 people had donated more than $215,000 since July 22 and the donations would be used for "the short term medical care of Gammy, and to establish a long term strategy for his future."



The child was treated in a hospital east of Bangkok over the weekend for a lung infection, but "there has been some improvement since," he said, adding that a heart condition will necessitate multiple surgical interventions over a long period.



However, a Thai hospital representative told reporters Tuesday that a cardiology expert had confirmed that Gammy does not suffer from a life-threatening heart disease and had almost completely recovered from pneumonia.



"He has pneumonia which is quite a normal ailment for children of this age," said Wijit Panayingpaisarn, adding that he is now almost cured. "We had a cardiology expert run a check on his heart and we are happy to say he has no heart disease to worry about."



The Thai mother, Pattharamon Janbua, who lives in Chonburi around 60 kilometers south of Bangkok, already has two children of her own.



She has said that she accepted the agency's offer to carry twins for the couple because of the 350,000 baht (nearly $11,000) offered.



"I saw that we could use the money to educate my children and repay our debts," she told local media.



During pregnancy, when it was found that one of the twins was affected with the condition, she said that the agency had pressured her to have an abortion, but she has said that she refused because as a Buddhist it would be considered a sin.



Interviewed over the weekend by Australian TV channel ABC, she vowed to treat Gammy as her own.



"I chose to have him, not to hurt him. He was in my tummy for nine months, it's like my child," she said.



Talking to the media for the first time Monday, the Australian couple, who live in a small city south of Perth, said that they had never been informed that the child was suffering from Down Syndrome. They affirmed that they wanted to also take the boy back to Australia, but said they were prevented by doctors from doing so because he had a heart condition which would not have allowed him to survive for more than a few days.



They also said that the experience of dealing with the agency that arranged the surrogacy contract had been "traumatizing."



Outside of being accused of child abandonment, further fingers have been pointed the Australian father's way, Australia's Nine Network television reporting Tuesday that he is a convicted pedophile.



Janbua said Tuesday that if the allegation is proven to be true she would like the baby's healthy twin returned. 



"Personally, when I heard the news I was shocked but I can't say anything much right now," she told reporters in her hometown. She added that she would leave it to authorities to see if she can get the girl returned. 



The case has caused international outcry, many people calling for an end to commercial surrogacy in Thailand to halt the lucrative trade. In Australia, meanwhile, some people have demanded an overhaul of surrogacy laws to cut down on people travelling abroad in search of surrogate parents.



Faced with the growing controversy, the Thai junta, which seized power on May 22, has announced that regulations governing bloodlines between surrogate mothers and at least one parent will be strictly implemented from now on. They have also ordered authorities to check the legal status of clinics offering surrogacy services in the country.



Authorities have also announced that people who try to remove a child from his mother, even with her consent, and bring him to another country would be violating anti-human trafficking laws. 



The new stance has taken aback hundreds of infertile foreign couples currently in the process of looking for surrogate mothers in Thailand.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara