News: Updates in the story of abandoned baby Gammy.

New revelations have emerged in the story of six-month-old baby Gammy, who was reportedly abandoned by his Australian biological parents when they found out he had Down’s Syndrome.

As Mamamia reported last week, the Australian couple allegedly entered into a surrogacy agreement with a young Thai woman in 2013 — but when the two babies were born, the couple returned to Australia with only Gammy’s sister.

The 21-year-old surrogate mother Pattharamon Janbua has been left to care for the boy, who suffers from a congenital heart condition.

The story made international headlines at the weekend — and now, a number of new developments in the distressing story have emerged.

1. Gammy’s parents said they were ‘too old to care for twins’.

Ms Janbua has spoken to Fairfax Media, claiming that Gammy’s father visited the abandoned baby in hospital after his birth but only interacted with his healthy twin sister.

Ms Janbua also said the Australian parents refused to take him because they were ‘too old’ to care for twins, Fairfax reports.

She said the father, who is in his 50s, “came to the hospital to take care of the girl but never looked Gammy in the face or carried him”.

“He did not buy milk for Gammy. He only bought milk for the girl,” she claimed.

“I could say he never touched Gammy at all.”

2. Australian couple speaks out

The Western Australian couple, who was contacted by 9News after Ms Janbua identified them, reportedly described their surrogacy experience as “traumatising.”

They denied they were the parents of baby Gammy — but admitted they had used a surrogate and that they had a baby girl about the same age as baby Gammy, the 9News reports.

But the ABC reports the father said the clinic’s doctor only told them about the girl, saying he and his partner had a lot of trouble with the surrogacy agency.

They had also been told the agency no longer existed, the father told the ABC.

3. Gammy’s lung infection

Meanwhile, Gammy remains in hospital but is over the worst of his lung infection, the Illawarra Mercury reports.

The baby was rushed to hospital with the infection at the weekend and Ms Janbua feared he would die if he didn’t receive surgery for a congenital heart condition, Fairfax Media reports.

He is now faring better after being transferred to an international-standard hospital — and his GoFundMe page has now exceeded its goal of raising $200,000, a sum that will undoubtedly go a long way in alleviating Gammy’s medical expenses.

A message of thanks on the GoFundMe page, which as of Monday afternoon had attracted donations of more than $212,000, says:

Thank you one and all! Our hearts are filled with love for all the people around the world who have taken time out of their lives to give thought to Gammy… We are so incredibly overwhelmed by the support we have received from humans everywhere and words can not express how proud we are to have been part of Gammy’s journey and story.

The message continues:

We encourage people to continue to donate to our page and to support Gammy and his loving family. Alternatively you can donate directly to Hands Across Australia our chosen ‘not for profit organisation’. https://handsacrossthewater.org.au/get-involved/donate/

5. Should Gammy receive an Australian passport?

Offering further support to Gammy is humanitarian Moira Kelly, who’s leading a push to have the boy brought to Melbourne for treatment.

The Herald Sun reports Ms Kelly said she had written to charity Hands Across the Water to offer her expertise in getting the child to Australia.

“This little boy should have his heart surgery for free because he is an Australian citizen,” Ms Kelly, who is also the legal guardian of conjoined twins Krishna and Trishna, said.

“In theory, he should be given a passport…  really his medical status should be covered under our law,” she said.

Hands Across the Water is handling the money raised by Gammy’s GoFundMe campaign, the fundraising page says.

6. Calls for surrogacy law reform

Meanwhile,Thai authorities have announced a crackdown on surrogacy in the Southeast Asian country since Gammy’s story broke.

The move has created uncertainty for around 200 Australian couples with surrogacy arrangements in Thailand, Fairfax Media reports.

The Australian Federal government is also looking into the case, with the ABC reporting that the Department of Foreign Affairs is consulting with Thai authorities, and that Prime Minister Tony Abbott had confirmed the government would investigate.

Meanwhile, Surrogacy Australia president Sam Everingham told the ABC he would welcome surrogacy law reforms the wake of the emergence of Gammy’s story.

“I think we’re happy that he stays in Thailand with his surrogate mum right now. But we don’t want to see this kind of thing happening again,” Mr Everingham said.

“We do want to see the Australian government putting money into surrogacy education and support for families who are at the moment going overseas with the government really just turning their back on them,” he added.

You can donate to the Hope For Gammy campaign at the GoFundMe page here.

Want to read more about Gammy? Try these:

Mia Freedman writes: Could this be the real reason why Gammy’s parents abandoned him?

Response from a parent of a child with Down’s Syndrome: To the Australian couple who abandoned their son with Down’s syndrome. 

Mamamia’s first report on Gammy: The surrogate child an Australian couple didn’t want.