Paedophiles and surrogacy

David John Farnell and his wife

How many paedophiles have paid a cash strapped surrogate to have their baby?  Nobody knows because there are no laws to stop them. There are women queuing up in Asian and Eastern Block countries, desperate for the chance to carry a child for financial reward.

Fifty six year old David John Farnell, the father of the abandoned baby Gammy with Down Syndrome in Thailand, has been convicted of 22 child sex offences.  He was sentenced to three years in jail in 1997 for sexually abusing two girls, then aged 7 and 10. Court documents reveal he molested the children when they were visiting him at his home.  The victims made complaints when they were adults and he pleaded guilty to 18 charges.

This man was allowed to proceed with the surrogacy in Thailand because there weren't any laws to stop him and the surrogacy agency didn't bother to check his criminal record.   And it's a disgrace.

American-born Mark Newton and his partner Peter Truong wanted a child of their own so they paid a Russian woman $8,000 to be their surrogate, using Newton's sperm.  They wanted the child for the sole purpose of allowing men around the world to sexually abuse him.  In one video, Newton performs a sex act on the baby when he was less than 2 weeks old.  They lived in Australia and are now in jail in the US.

This story of Gammy is tragic in many ways and may have ruined the chances of genuine couples desperate for a baby.

Some states in Australia ban gay couples and single women from having a surrogate child and in NSW, Queensland and the ACT, it's a criminal offence.  To avoid criminal charges, hopeful professional couples who can't afford to have a criminal record on their CV, are moving to Victoria and South Australia.

Surrogacy is legal in Australia if you can find a woman altruistic enough to do it virtually for nothing.  Some women are lucky enough to have a sister or other close friend or relative prepared to do it for them but they are hard to find and it's easy to see why desperate couples are turning to Asia.

David Farnell and his wife brought the healthy twin girl home from Thailand and left Gammy behind. Yesterday afternoon the RSPCA took the family dog into care after neighbours said it was left alone for two days.  

Just another indication that you wouldn't leave a dog in the care of this man, let alone a baby and the WA Child Protection needs to step in and take control of this situation today.