Gammy

[steph.]

Has anyone else read the story of Gammy the baby boy with down syndrome abandoned by his biological parents, who only took his healthy twin sister? Here is a link

https://www.smh.com.au/national/gam...d-to-take-him-mother-told-20140803-zzy5z.html

Of course my first thought was how could they abandon their child, down syndrome or not? They have remained anonymous, probably for their own safety. This morning while I was rocking dd2 to sleep with the radio on, they said that the Australian parents are claiming that they never had a baby boy with down syndrome. That they have a healthy little girl Gammy's age and that they used a surrogate in Thailand, but that their daughter never had a twin Part of me wants to believe them, to believe that this was an elaborate plan to get funding for the little boy, to believe that no one would be able to abandon their child. But the other part doesn't, after all Gammy doesn't look Thai at all.

Thoughts?

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

It's being reported in the UK like this:

The Oz couple were white and Thai (mixed) so that could explain why Gammy looks Caucasian. The couple are saying they were never told about a twin by the agency and knew nothing about a brother. Quite possible if they were doing all dealing through an agency. At the end of the day the agency only care about the cash so it's plausible that they led the couple to believe there was only one baby (the little girl). Regardless it's sad he's been separated from his sister but his surrogate has a lot of love for him so that's comforting.

 

[steph.]

Yes it's a strange story. It doesn't make sense to me why the agency would have kept it a secret...what did they have to gain from it? I wonder what wiill happen now, if the parents will want him, if they will be charged with abandonment, whether he will stay with the Thai family, or be given up for adoption. It's also a shame because either way it sheds a bad light on surrogacy, which when done right can be wonderful.

 

[miana]

The story changes everyday! I'm in australia..... Not that far from where the biological parents live. The father is australian the mother is chinese. They did know they were twins but apparently didn't know Grammy had down syndrom. The latest news about it I literally just saw...... The biological father is a child sex offender!!! He had committed 3 separate crimes on girls under the she of 9 in the 90's, so he wasn't actually on the sex offender register here in australia.That makes me so angry, sick and frustrated
His wife may not have known about his past but he did! I think it was not a legitimate surrogacy agency by the sounds of it? I know my boss and his partner are currently looking into international surrogacy and it seems to be quite a long and in depth process.

I hate hearing stories like this when there are people out there that would be great parents but just have no luck and others can pop them out (or go through a channel like this) and treat children horribly!
So upsetting

 

[Lau88]

I was reading about the dad being a sex offender and his wife said that she knew stands by him and that his past doesn't make him a bad person. Kinda makes you wonder if gammy was abandoned because of his down syndrome or because he wasn't a girl. I don't know how it works in Australia but would they be allowed to keep the baby after that coming out? Especially when the surrogate is calling for the girl back.

 

[cookette]

This story changes daily, im reserving judgement until the facts come out. Super easy to make someone look a villain. I can only hope for that sweet baby....

 

[miana]

I'm not sure how it will work, if they have to give her back or not? The latest is they have "fled" their home and their dog was taken by authorities from the place "for it's own safety"...... Mmm?!

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

https://news.sky.com/story/1316338/abandoned-downs-baby-parents-break-silence

22 sexual offences!!! I'm speechless.

 

[AP]

I was reading this today and watched the interview with the father. OMG.

He was asked by the interviewer if he thought he'd have any urges to do so again. Rather than saying "I'd never do that again" he worryingly states it in present tense. "I could never do this again"

It screams to me those urges are present

 

[Debi]

Surely she will be taken off of them?? They can't leave a baby in his care can they? I watched a snippet of the interview on the news.. Crocodile tears from him- I don't believe a word! They abandoned that poor baby.. Although by the looks of things he is safer where he is. What an awful awful story

 

[Lau88]

22 as young as 5?! They don't deserve the girl, clearly went through a Thai surrogate agency due to the lack of background checks, im sure he would of had a crb and been refused had they of used an Australian one. I've not seen the interview but i saw a still from it, i wasn't expecting them to be as old as they are.

 

[steph.]

I watched the whole interview last night, and I think I have a better idea of what happened. Imo the baby was born with down's and the parents didn't want to bring him up. This in itself is fine. There are lots of people out there that don't feel they can bring up a baby with special needs and put their babies up for adoption (or abort as over 90% of ds babies are terminated). The surrogate then stepped in and said she would take him, so they thought "problem solved" and left with the little girl. It's not like they abandoned him to fend for himself, in their minds they found someone to look after him. If they had put him up for adoption legally then there wouldn't have been this uproar.

That is what I think happened. Their story goes that in Thailand the surrogate mother has complete rights over the babies, and said she was going to keep the boy despite them wanting to take him home. She said if they didn't leave, then she would keep the girl too so at that point they decided to bring the girl home to Australia and try to figure out how to bring Gammy home later. Except they never even tried to do anything to bring him home, they didn't contact he Australian embassy, they didn't get a lawyer, they didn't go back to Thailand to get him back, they didn't even phone to see how he was doing. So I don't believe that they really wanted him.

As for the sex offender past, I don't think a paedophile can be rehabilitated. I don't think the urges can just go away. Imagine him giving his daughter a bath and washing her bits...of course there will be thoughts going through his head. I don't think the little girl is safe, but since she is his daughter I'm not sure if she can be taken off him.

 

[Leesy]

The man is vile filth and his wife is just as bad as him thinking it's ok for a convicted pedophile to have another child. Who would have thought when the story originally broke that Gammy would be the lucky one. Pipah needs to be taken away from these people they have no right to be parents.

 

[Lau88]

Is his wife Australian with Thai decent or is it more of a "Thai bride" situation?

 

[miana]

She's Chinese I think? Could be wrong??

 

[Leesy]

She is Chinese and has been referred to in articles as a mail order bride...

 

[Lau88]

Without being rude, it would make sense to stay with a sex offender if it was that situation rather than being with one through choice.

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

It makes me shudder. Not one offence which is bad enough, not even two, but 22. It's shocking. That little girl is at risk!

 

[Leesy]

I think she is just as bad as him for knowingly having a child with a convicted pedophile. They are both disgusting people and that's being said without even going into the whole Gammy side of things.