This sad case could potentially threaten childless couples' dreams of ever having a child of their own through the use of an overseas surrogate.
When a Western Australian couple's twins were born in Thailand, they took the healthy girl home and left her brother, Gammy, behind. Why? Because he has Downs Syndrome and a hole in the heart. Their excuse was that they are too old to care for twins.
Pattaramon Chanbua agreed to be a surrogate for the couple who promised to pay her around $A16,000. At four months, they found she was having twins and one would be born with serious health problems. The surrogacy agency was informed by the parents to abort the disabled foetus, but the surrogate refused.
The GoFundMe online fundraising campaign has raised $200,000 so far for his medical expenses and money is still coming in.
Ms Chanbua 21, lives about 90 kms south of Bangkok with her two other children, 6 and 3. "....with that money we can educate our children and repay our debt" she said.
Gammy is currently in a Bangkok hospital with a lung infection and his condition is stable.
Surrogacy Australia president Sam Everingham said the government had virtually turned its back on couples seeking surrogacy overseas. People from NSW, Queensland and the ACT cannot enter into a commercial surrogacy agreement overseas.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this was "an incredibly sad story" and the government would look into the case.
Edit 6 August 2014: It's been revealed that the father of the twins was jailed for three years in 1997 after admitting to sexually abusing two young children. He's now married to an Asian woman who can hardly speak English. These surrogacy agencies in Asia are making it very easy for pedophiles to buy their own child for their own personal needs.
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