Fears of surrogacy ban after Australian couple deserts Thai surrogate mother of Down Syndrome baby

[shaayecanaan]

Surrogacy Australia says it is shocked and outraged that an Australian couple abandoned a baby in Thailand with his surrogate mother after he was found to have Down syndrome and a life-threatening heart condition.

Impoverished mother Pattaramon Chanbua has told the ABC she gave birth to twins after agreeing to be a surrogate with a promised payment of about $16,000.

The Western Australian couple rejected six-month-old Gammy and only took his healthy sister home with them, and Ms Chanbua says she cannot afford Gammy's medical treatment.

She has told the ABC she refused the couple's request to terminate the pregnancy because in Thai culture it was considered sinful.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is concerned by the reports and is consulting with Thai authorities.

In Australia, people from New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT are prohibited from entering a commercial surrogacy agreement overseas.

Rachel Kunde, the executive director of Surrogacy Australia, says the case is shocking.

"Someone's left a baby behind and separated it from its twin and pretty much just disregarded that it was their child, which is something that is just unfathomable for people to think about," she said.

She is worried about a knee-jerk reaction to the case could lead to an outright ban.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24615055/fears-of-surrogacy-ban-after-australian-couple-deserts-thai-surrogate-mother-of-baby-with-down-syndrome/

[KitSileya]

1. The surrogacy business, for a business it is, is very worrying to me.

Paying women from developing countries to risk their health to bear children for third world couples is ethically wrong to me. Especially when we see cases like these, but also on a general basis.

I am not condemning surrogacy in and of itself, but the paying of poor women to do it. I could accept laws where surrogacy could only be done for altruistic motives, and where the woman only got her medical expenses paid, and where there is a firm contract between the couple and the surrogate that would not leave a child in a foreign country with a woman who cannot afford it, and who most likely has no biological ties to the child. I have a lot of empathy with childless couples, but ultimately, my concern is with the surrogates. Women in countries like Thailand, India, etc, often have poorer health than women in Europe and America, and are often pressured, if not by family, then by financial obligations to their own family, to risk their health to do this. As a progressive, I cannot stand by and condone the exploitation of women in other parts of the world.

[shaayecanaan]

2. I am not sure whether this was a traditional or gestational surrogacy

Last edited Sun Aug 3, 2014, 07:39 PM - Edit history (2)

or whether the surrogate shares half its genes with the child.

The Australian prime minister has said that he would like to intervene on behalf of the surrogate - ie allow her to move to Australia. I certainly hope that that is the case, it is a very sad story all round.

The suggestion now is to only allow blood relatives to be surrogates - that would tend to prevent the biological parents from abandoning a child as was the case here.

[shaayecanaan]

3. Correction

It was a gestational surrogacy - no genetic relation to the surrogate.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/gammys-australian-parents-too-old-to-take-him-mother-told-20140803-zzy5z.html