Australian pair abandon Down’s syndrome baby
An Australian couple who paid a surrogate mother from Thailand to have twin babies for them rejected one of the pair when he was born with Down’s syndrome. Now a campaign to help has raised £70,000.
The surrogate mother Pattharamon Janbua was left to care for her critically ill son Gammy when the Australian couple rejected him – and took his healthy twin sister.
Six-month old Gammy is in hospital with a lung infection, and his 21-year-old Thai surrogate mother fears he will die unless he undergoes surgery for a congenital heart condition, according to reports.
The unnamed Australian couple used a surrogate after they were unable to conceive naturally, paying Ms Pattharamon about £6,400 to be a surrogate mother for them.
Ms Pattharamon became pregnant with twins and when tests at the four-month mark showed the baby boy had Down’s syndrome, the couple reportedly told her to have an abortion.
I would like to tell Thai women – don’t get into this business as a surrogate. Pattharamon Janbua
Ms Pattharamon, a Buddhist, refused.
Ms Pattharamon never met the couple. She is now desperately trying to raise money to care for Gammy, who is critically ill.
She said: “I would like to tell Thai women – don’t get into this business as a surrogate. Don’t just think only for money… if something goes wrong no-one will help us and the baby will be abandoned from society, then we have to take responsibility for that.”
The Thai family has set up a Hope for Gammy campaign to help fund the baby’s operations. The campaign is reportedly being supported by Australian embassy staff in Bangkok. It has raised more than £70,000 so far.