Last August, the whole world learned that an Australian couple who had commissioned a Thai surrogate mother, abandoned the Down syndrome baby, Gammy, taking only his “healthy” twin sister. (Gènéthqiue press review on August 4th, 2014). On this occasion, an Australian father is “being questioned about the sexual abuse of his children, born to a Thai surrogate mother, and documents suggesting paedophilia have been seized”.
The surrogate mother had agreed to have a child for an Australian couple and “gave her own ovules in exchange for €3,900” according to the public audiovisual group, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The father denies the allegations but “must appear in court before the end of the year“. His estranged wife has custody of the children.
This case came to light when Thai legislation was in the process of introducing a 10 year prison sentence for any breach in the ban on commercial surrogacy.
Lematin.ch 02/09/2014 – francetvinfo.fr 02/09/2014 – AFP 02/09/2014