Anyone else see this story in the news? Australia/Thailand surrogate case

marajay6 · August 2014

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thai-surrogate-mom-upset-australia-couple-24824613

This is an all around heart breaking story. An Australian couple hired a surrogate in Thailand. The surrogate gave birth to twins last December and the Australian parents only took one home. The twin that was left behind has Down's Syndrome and a congenital health defect. It is not clear whether the Australian parents knew that they had twins or not. The agency that organized this is pretty shady. I have not seen any media reports where the Australian couple is fighting for the left behind twin. Currently the surrogate mother is caring for him.

kfo22 · August 2014

Yes! The surrogate mother apparently has no anger towards the biological Australian parents, she's just hoping the twin they're taking care of is loved. Wow.

Also noticed that Australian law on surrogate mothers is interesting... It's illegal to pay someone to be a surrogate, but a free surrogate can decide to keep the child instead of giving them away to the bio parents.

I actually have no idea about US laws on surrogacy.

moroccojade · August 2014

The article I read said that the couple didn't want the Down syndrome child and just left without him. And that donations have been coming in to help the surrogate and her family get the treatment he needs and to pull the family out of poverty.

It's illegal to pay a surrogate in Canada, too...

marajay6 · August 2014

moroccojade said:

The article I read said that the couple didn't want the Down syndrome child and just left without him. And that donations have been coming in to help the surrogate and her family get the treatment he needs and to pull the family out of poverty.

It's illegal to pay a surrogate in Canada, too...

I saw a few different news sources on this and it there are a lot of contradictions on how much the biological parents knew. The surrogate was even asked to get an abortion, but again there are conflicting reports as to whether the request came from the agency or the biological parents. There is a lot more to the story than what any media report has made public, so I don't want to condemn the biological parents yet.

lincoln79 · August 2014

As someone who needs to use a gestational surrogate to have a child, it makes me so sad and angry that this is the only way this subject gets any media attention.

Never mind all of the many women who are generous enough to do this and the incredibly difficult journey couples like this go through to get to this place.

MmmPopcorn · August 2014

sj+cm131 said:

moroccojade said:

The article I read said that the couple didn't want the Down syndrome child and just left without him. And that donations have been coming in to help the surrogate and her family get the treatment he needs and to pull the family out of poverty.

It's illegal to pay a surrogate in Canada, too...

I saw a few different news sources on this and it there are a lot of contradictions on how much the biological parents knew. The surrogate was even asked to get an abortion, but again there are conflicting reports as to whether the request came from the agency or the biological parents. There is a lot more to the story than what any media report has made public, so I don't want to condemn the biological parents yet.

Abortion is apparently illegal in Thailand unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother, so I'm not sure if that would have even been an option in this case. I have seen the same contradictory stories, though, so I'm really not sure what to think.

LittleLadyAKS · August 2014

Whatever the circumstance may truly be, this story just breaks my heart.

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Anyone else see this story in the news? Australia/Thailand surrogate case

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