Yahoo – AFP,
20 Jan 2015
Thai
surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua holds baby Gammy, born with Down
Syndrome,
at the Samitivej hospital in Chonburi province, on August 4, 2014
(AFP
Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)
|
A baby at
the centre of a Thai surrogacy scandal has been granted Australian citizenship,
authorities said on Tuesday, after his birth mother said he was abandoned by a
Perth couple who went home with his healthy twin sister.
Baby Gammy
sparked a global debate about the legal and moral issues surrounding surrogacy
when reports emerged in August that he was left behind by the pair, who
returned to Australia with his sister Pipah.
The couple
have denied abandoning the boy, who has Down's syndrome, saying they had wanted
to bring him home and left Thailand fearing the surrogate mother would seize
their daughter.
Thai
surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua
holds baby Gammy, born with Down Syndrome,
at the Samitivej hospital in Chonburi province,
on August 4, 2014 (AFP
Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)
|
"It is
not appropriate for the department to make any further comments on this
case."
Surrogate
mother Pattaramon Chanbua, who is in her early 20s, confirmed her son had been
granted Australian citizenship.
"He
got citizenship four days ago. The Australian embassy called me on Friday to
ask me to come and collect the documents," she told AFP by telephone from
her home in Chonburi province, 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of the capital
Bangkok.
Pattaramon,
also known as Goy, said she has no immediate plans to take her son to Australia
but applied for citizenship with the help of the Australian charity Hands
Across the Water as a safeguard for his future.
"I
want him to be near me here (in Thailand) so that I don't have to miss
him," the 21-year-old mother said.
"But
if all of my family, including me die and if Gammy is left behind alone, at
least the Australian government will help him."
She added
that Gammy is in good health and turned one in December.
The baby
has moved into a new home in Chonburi province about 90 kilometres south-east
of Bangkok using money donated by well-wishers across the globe, the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Gammy's
biological father, David Farnell, a convicted sex offender, is under
investigation by the authorities in Western Australia regarding the wellbeing
and safety of Pipah.
Commercial
surrogacy is illegal in Australia, prompting growing numbers of infertile
couples to head overseas to countries such as India and Thailand to fulfil
their dreams of having a family.
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