The Baby Gammy case made headlines in August 2014 when Thai surrogate Pattaramon Chanbua alleged West Australian couple Wendy and David Farnell had abandoned Gammy and returned to Western Australia with his healthy twin sister, Pipah.
Date: Feb 20, 2015
Category: World
Source: Google
Surrogacy Hub Thailand to Restrict 'Rent a Womb' Services
The childrens biological father, David Farnell, a convicted child sex offender, and his wife, Wendy, have contradicted the birth mothers version of events. The Australian couple says doctors stated that the boy, known as Gammy, had a congenital heart condition and would not survive.
Date: Aug 15, 2014
Source: Google
Australian surrogate parents speak publicly for first time
Revelations last week that David Farnell was a convicted sex offender exacerbated public outrage over the case. According to Australian District Court documents, he was jailed in 1997 for a minimum of three years for sex offences involving three girls aged under 13.
Baby Gammy's surrogate mother, Pattaramon Chanbua, a 21-year-old food vendor with two young children of her own, had accused the boy's biological parents, Wendy and David Farnell, of leaving her with the infant while taking his healthy twin sister, Pipah, back with them to Australia.The case, which has focused global attention on the largely unregulated surrogacy industry in Thailand, became even murkier when it emerged that David Farnell had been convicted in the 1990s of multiple sex offenses against young girls. Farnell insisted Sunday that his daughter is not at risk of harWhen the babies were born, however, the Farnells said they realized they wanted to keep both. But Pattaramon then insisted she be allowed to keep Gammy, and threatened to keep Pipah as well, David Farnell said. The couple believes Pattaramon wanted to keep Gammy because male children are prized in AThey didn't apply for a visa extension because they wanted to get Pipah to Australia to keep her away from Pattaramon, David Farnell said. Their plan was to fight to get their son back by going through the Australian authorities, he said., they have never contacted the authorities about their son, because they say they still feel their daughter is at risk of being taken back by Pattaramon. They have never called to check on Gammy's welfare, and have contacted a liaison between themselves and Pattaramon only once, David Farnell said.
Date: Aug 10, 2014
Category: Health
Source: Google
Australian Parents in Surrogacy Scandal Feared Losing Gammy, Sister
The couple told Australian television they felt they had little choice but to leave Thailand with Gammy's healthy sister. "We wanted to bring him with us," David Farnell, 56, told the Nine Networks 60 Minutes program. They returned to Australia with Gammys sister Pipah as the surrogate mother Patt
Date: Aug 10, 2014
Category: Health
Source: Google
Over 100 Thai surrogates may be carrying babies for Aust couples
His remarks prompted an angry response from Gammy's Thai mother in Chon Buri, Pattharamon Chanbua, who revealed that while the twins were fathered by David Farnell, the egg implanted inside her was provided by a Thai woman, not Farnell's wife Wendy, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Heral
In an interview broadcast on Sunday, David Farnell said that he and his wife wanted to bring Gammy with them, but feared Chanbua, who reportedly demanded to keep the children, would call the police and take both of the babies from them.
Date: Aug 10, 2014
Category: Health
Source: Google
'No-one will take my baby away from me' - Gammy's Thai mother
Her comments come after Gammy's biological parents, Wendy and David Farnell, told Channel Nine's 60 minutes programme they did not abandon Gammy while taking his healthy twin sister, Pipah, back with them to Australia.