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

[inertia]

The biological parents of baby Gammy have released a public statement saying they would like Australia to hear their story before passing judgement.

David and Wendy Farnell, who first came under scrutiny after they were accused of abandoning Gammy with his surrogate mother in Thailand, agreed to speak to 60 Minutes this Sunday night to tell their version of events.


60 Minutes Executive Producer Tom Malone said the Farnells had asked the program to give them the opportunity to tell their side of the story.

"We never comment on any commercial arrangements between 60 Minutes and our interview subjects but given the nature of this story, it's important our viewers know that no money has been or will be paid to the parents,” Malone said.

“However, 60 Minutes will be making a donation to the charity Hands Across the Water, which is raising money for Gammy’s ongoing treatment and care.


Read more at*http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...ts-to-speak-to-60-minutes#Jh351GooUmR6sowz.99


Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SouthAussie]

At this point, I am not concerned with what they have to say … I think it will be exactly what their friend said for them in this article. And I think Baby Gammy is in a safer place – with donated money pouring in from well-wishers to help with his medical care.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/gammys-parents-reveal-their-side-of-the-story-20140805-100ngq.html

I am more concerned about the proximity of a convicted repeat paedophile to a baby girl.

As a convicted child sex offender in Western Australia, is he allowed near schools and such? And if he is not, how does that work when he has a baby living with him that will be attending school one day, and presumably having friends at home to play?

 

[Mrs G Norris]

The biological parents of baby Gammy have released a public statement saying they would like Australia to hear their story before passing judgement.

David and Wendy Farnell, who first came under scrutiny after they were accused of abandoning Gammy with his surrogate mother in Thailand, agreed to speak to 60 Minutes this Sunday night to tell their version of events.

60 Minutes Executive Producer Tom Malone said the Farnells had asked the program to give them the opportunity to tell their side of the story.

"We never comment on any commercial arrangements between 60 Minutes and our interview subjects but given the nature of this story, it's important our viewers know that no money has been or will be paid to the parents,” Malone said.

“However, 60 Minutes will be making a donation to the charity Hands Across the Water, which is raising money for Gammy’s ongoing treatment and care.


Read more at*http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...ts-to-speak-to-60-minutes#Jh351GooUmR6sowz.99


Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

Too late, judgement has been passed ..

At this point, I am not concerned with what they have to say … I think it will be exactly what their friend said for them in this article. And I think Baby Gammy is in a safer place – with donated money pouring in from well-wishers to help with his medical care.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/gammys-parents-reveal-their-side-of-the-story-20140805-100ngq.html

I am more concerned about the proximity of a convicted repeat paedophile to a baby girl.

As a convicted child sex offender in Western Australia, is he allowed near schools and such? And if he is not, how does that work when he has a baby living with him that will be attending school one day, and presumably having friends at home to play?

See .. we made our minds up darn fast, they were toast when we heard they abandoned Gammy and came out with multiple excuses, the history of pedophilia was the final nail in the coffin for them.

Nothing but lying liars.

 

[they'll get you]

Mr Farnell’s daughter flew into Perth yesterday and told Nine News Perth that the family, at some stage, intended to publically explain why baby Gammy way left behind.

“The only thing that we are going to say right now is that my father is a wonderful father,” she said. “We are talking, just not right now.”

He said his friend was known in South Bunbury and for years had organised Christmas parties for families and children at a local park, rigging up festive lights with his electrical skills.

The retired butcher also said Mr Farnell has personally doorknocked the street following his indecent dealing convictions to assure worried parents he had not touched their children.

“My daughter used to go over there and play with his son and nothing ever happened. When he got convicted he knocked on the door and said, ‘I’ve been charged but I never touched your daughter’,” he said.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa-...me-friend-eugene/story-fnhnv0wb-1227017166415

Yep ... just like the good scout leaders, good baseball coaches, good priests, good swim coaches .... the list goes on. :facepalm:

Of course these pedos gravitate to families and children.

 

[SouthAussie]

Too late, judgement has been passed ..



See .. we made our minds up darn fast, they were toast when we heard they abandoned Gammy and came out with multiple excuses, the history of pedophilia was the final nail in the coffin for them.

Nothing but lying liars.

No mercy for convicted paedophiles here .. or the 'mistakes' that they have made in taking young children's childhood away .. or the crimes that they have 'paid for'.

Nothing is going to happen about Baby Gammy anyway - the surrogate mum is not going to give him up now, apparently. And he/they will just live quietly somewhere, raising their baby girl (may she be safe) and checking in with Child Services every once in a while.

 

[loveisthemovement]

At first they denied they were even the right couple and now they are going on 60 Minutes???

 

[Sonya610]

At first they denied they were even the right couple and now they are going on 60 Minutes???

They better be getting paid plenty for that interview, 60 minutes is infamous for editing the video answers/questions to create inflammatory pieces.

 

[T4Tide]

Maybe just me.... but does anyone else wish this sweet baby boy had a dignified name? Gammy just sounds like a pet, or something not to be taken seriously. Maybe it's a common name in Thailand??

 

[Karo]

Maybe just me.... but does anyone else wish this sweet baby boy had a dignified name? Gammy just sounds like a pet, or something not to be taken seriously. Maybe it's a common name in Thailand??

I think it is possibly a commonly used name in Thailand.

 

[Supernovae]

Maybe just me.... but does anyone else wish this sweet baby boy had a dignified name? Gammy just sounds like a pet, or something not to be taken seriously. Maybe it's a common name in Thailand??

To make matters worse, in the UK, and I think Australia as well, "gammy" is a colloquialism for a body part that is a bit bad, or not working properly:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gammy

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/gammy

 

[SouthAussie]

I wonder if Gamon is the baby's formal name ... it is a Thai name meaning 'from the heart'. His mum may just call him Gammy in the same way that a Robert can be called Robbie, or Terrance can be called Terry.

http://babynames.net/names/gamon

 

[SouthAussie]

Baby Gammy does not have a life-threatening heart condition as first feared, doctors have discovered.

The charity raising money for the child at the centre of a surrogacy controversy has confirmed the infant's suspected heart condition has been ruled out by cardiac specialists in Bangkok.

Organisers of a fundraising initiative for baby Gammy have posted an update online saying the boy has a "strong and healthy heart".

"Such specialists were not necessarily available to Pattaramon (Khun Goy) and her son Gammy, but with the additional services in the private hospital thanks to the funds donated by generous people from all around the world, we can now confirm such heart complications have been ruled out," the post said.

"He is quickly recovering from the lung infection that saw him admitted to hospital last week and we hope that soon he will leave hospital and return home with his mother (Khun Goy)."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-08/baby-gammys-heart-condition-ruled-out/5658452

 

[SouthAussie]

Bangkok: Thai authorities have ruled out taking legal action against the Australian biological parents of Gammy, the baby with Down syndrome separated from his twin sister in Australia, while swooping on a surrogate nursery allegedly set up by a Japanese businessman in Bangkok.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/gammy-n...s-thailand-20140808-101t67.html#ixzz39qTKzXUo


So, David Farnell is legally in the clear. Though I hope that the pressure stays on to watch out for his baby girl.


But the following article (per my BBM above) about the Japanese businessman is really sad, sounds like a baby-mill. This Japanese man is allegedly the father of all nine babies, and probably one in utero baby.

Nine babies aged from one month to six months have been found in a Bangkok condominium, fuelling further concern about Thailand's booming surrogacy industry.

A Thai lawyer has said a Japanese millionaire is the father of the babies, who were born to Thai surrogate mothers.

Military Police and welfare workers who raided the condominium also found nine Thai and Japanese child-minders and a woman who was about four months pregnant ...

The reporters said two of the babies were taken to hospital last week suffering fevers. They said four of the babies were found sleeping on beds in one room and the others were in different rooms.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/japa...ine-infants-20140806-3d8u9.html#ixzz39qTfu9Gw

 

[Ausgirl]

There's a lot of really common names for kids in America that sound stupid and undignified as well. IMO. But then, it's a different culture...

 

[Ausgirl]

But the following article (per my BBM above) about the Japanese businessman is really sad, sounds like a baby-mill. This Japanese man is allegedly the father of all nine babies, and proably one in utero baby.



http://www.smh.com.au/national/japa...ine-infants-20140806-3d8u9.html#ixzz39qTfu9Gw

^ sounds like the Thai Govt is cleaning house. Again..

 

[SouthAussie]

There's a lot of really common names for kids in America that sound stupid and undignified as well. IMO. But then, it's a different culture...

Not to mention the common names we 'assign' in our culture too .... Dazza, Bazza, Davo, Bluey, Lofty .... and that is just a few of the polite ones! :floorlaugh:

 

[Ausgirl]

It had earlier been reported that David John Farnell, now 56, had been sentenced to three years' jail in 1997 for sexually molesting two girls under the age of 13 and that months later, while still in prison, he was charged again, this time with six counts of indecent dealing with a child under the age of 13.

But further court documents have revealed other sex offences, bringing the total number of convictions against him to 22 - including a victim aged just seven.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...se-mail-order-bride-agency.html#ixzz39qg5eAEf
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To which he pleaded "guilty", it should be added.

There's a definite message coming from his family that they'd like all this to just stay buried... it might be "heartbreaking" to them that the world is now aware that Farnell is a kiddy rapist. But I reckon it's awesome.

I also reckon he's a prime example of WHY we need a national sex offender registry!!!!!

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Not to mention the common names we 'assign' in our culture too .... Dazza, Bazza, Davo, Bluey, Lofty .... and that is just a few of the polite ones! :floorlaugh:

You left out my fave .. SHAZZA!!

 

[fruity]

If you strip away all of the emotion about at poor baby being abandoned and rejected - one with Down Syndrome ... this is really highlighting the need for internationally agreed laws wrt surrogacy. I doubt that will ever happen though.

DF should never have been considered for surrogacy, being a pedophile. Ever. It is way too much to expect Thailand - with its very shady sex trade - to legally protect people against sex offenders though.

On the other hand, IMO it also highlights the need for the biological parents to be named the legal parents of children born through surrogacy. Australia (and the uk) don't legally recognise biological parents as parents in surrogacy. If they did, David and Wendy Farnell could be charged with child abandonment.

While it is hard to separate the sex offences with the surrogacy issue here, if we try to imagine it was a different situation I think many people would be upset by the surrogate mother saying she wants "her daughter" back. I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I think it is an important issue. If you enter a surrogacy agreement you need to recognise that the child is not your son or daughter. MOO.

There are way too many conflicting details (from both sides) for me to be disinterested in the 60 minutes interview. Ultimately I want for Gammy and Pipah to be safe. That is the main thing here.

 

[fruity]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...erge-day-parents-speak-surrogacy-scandal.html

So what does this mean: they wanted both babies to be born before they "made a decision"?? Clearly they made "a decision" ... How do they justify it?


This next link is worth reading, it is written by a parent who went through surrogacy in South Africa (IMO one of the better places wrt regulation and laws).

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/07/baby-gammy-surrogacy