Surrogate mother says twin boy was abandoned by Australian parents but alleged father says he did not know of boy
Conflicting reports have emerged over a baby with Down’s syndrome allegedly abandoned by its Australian parents in Thailand after being born to a surrogate mother.
The boy, named Gammy, is currently in hospital being treated for a life-threatening lung infection and will need operations for a heart condition. His surrogate mother, Pattharamon Chanbua, has told journalists he was abandoned when his Australian parents took his sister home but left him. She said they had asked her to abort him.
The Australian couple have not been named but have reportedly denied leaving Gammy in Thailand. Channel Nine and ABC both say they have spoken with them. More than $200,000 has been raised for Gammy through a viral online campaign but the people behind it have refused to reveal their identity because of their “position of work”.
Gammy’s alleged Australian father told the ABC the clinic’s doctor only told them about a girl and he had been told the surrogacy agency no longer existed. The couple told Channel 9 they had a daughter of similar age to Gammy, born through surrogacy, but she did not have a twin. They described their experience with the surrogacy agency as “traumatising”.
Chanbua told Fairfax the couple stayed in Thailand for a month when the twins were born, as the girl was in hospital along with Gammy. She said the father would not look at Gammy and did not carry him during the month.
A GoFundMe page has raised more than $200,000 for Gammy since the story of his alleged abandonment was first reported last week but the administrators of the page do not want to be identified. The fundraisers have asked the charity Hands Across the Water to handle the money and Hands Across the Water founder Peter Baines said it would not be writing a cheque to Gammy’s family.
“We will meet the immediate needs of his treatment in hospital now and then develop a long-term strategy over the next couple of weeks,” Baines told Guardian Australia.
Baines will meet Gammy’s family when he travels to Thailand, on a pre-arranged trip, this month and they will discuss Gammy’s future medical and schooling needs.
He said it was likely a trust account would be set up to fund Gammy’s expenses over the years.
“Is it appropriate to hand them [the Thai parents] a cheque for $10,000? I suspect not,” Baines said.
He said he knew who was behind the fundraising page but would not reveal their identity.
“Because of their position of work they wish to remain anonymous,” he said. “When they started off they raised $6,000 in Thailand and then asked us to take up the project.”
Baines said the $200,000 was more than was ever expected and the curators of the page posted a message saying they had reached their “goal” with the six-figure amount on Monday.
“This has been a heartwarming project for our team and we look forward to seeing what the final donations amount to … this is people power at its best!” the message posted on the GoFundMe page said.
“We do not view this as a short-term project, it is our vision by working together we can work to make Gammy’s life meaningful and his challenges dealt with with respect, love and care.”
Baines said he was not aware of reports from the Australian couple that they did not know about Gammy.
“From our perspective it’s almost a side issue. It’s not something we would seek out,” he said.
Baines said the focus of the charity was on distributing the funds responsibly and appropriately. He said a sub-committee would be established, involving the fundraisers and representatives from Down’s syndrome groups, to advise on how the money should be spent.
Chanbua said she was going to report the surrogacy agency to police on Monday but had so far not made contact with police, saying she was seeking further legal advice.