Finally. The Australian couple at the centre of the Gammy controversy speak.

The Australian couple at the centre of the baby Gammy controversy has spoken.

In a statement released to the Bunbury Mail through a friend, David and Wendy Farnell said allegations they abandoned the six-month-old baby were untrue.

“This has been absolutely devastating for them,” the friend said.

“Legally they have been told not to say anything but they wouldn’t be able to anyway.”

The friend said the Farnells had never wanted to give Gammy up.

“Gammy was very sick when he was born and the biological parents were told he would not survive and he had a day, at best, to live and to say goodbye… They prayed for Gammy to survive but were told by doctors that he was too sick, not because of the Down Syndrome but because of his heart and lung conditions and infection,” she said.

The friend added that reports the couple had demanded the surrogate mother have an abortion were false. She claimed they had not even been told the baby boy had Down Syndrome, the Bunbury Mail reports.

The statement said the Farnells had entered into a legal battle with the Thai surrogate mother after she gave birth to the babies in a different hospital to the one planned, a move that made the surrogacy agreement void.

Update:

In disturbing news, it’s been revealed the man believed to be Gammy’s Australian biological father previously abused at least three young girls.

The Daily Mail reports that the West Australian man was jailed in the late 1990s for sexually molesting two girls under 10.

He was sentenced to three years in prison — and, while serving that sentenced, he was charged with six further counts of indecently dealing with a child under the age of 13.

He was also convicted and sentenced for those crimes, the Daily Mail reports.

9News reports that the woman believed to be Gammy’s biological mother of the IVF baby has confirmed her husband had served time behind bars for indecently dealing with a child under 13 — but that she had defended him to reporters as a ‘good man’.

“(P)eople make mistakes – that doesn’t mean he is a bad person forever,” the woman said.

Fairfax Media reports that WA child protection services are investigating the suitability of the alleged Australian biological father of baby Gammy following the reports.

Police called child protection services on Monday night about the reports, WA Today reports.

No laws to stop WA sex offenders entering surrogacy arrangement

No laws exist to stop sex offenders from entering into overseas surrogacy arrangements, it’s been revealed.

The shocking news follows reports last night that the Australian biological father of baby Gammy is a convicted paedophile.

As the Daily Mail reports, in Western Australia, authorities look at children carried by surrogates overseas on a case-by-case basis.

The loophole means sex offenders can slip through the net.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, surrogacy lawyer Stephen Page said: “‘If you are going to a dodgy agency in Thailand no questions are asked.”

Mr Page added that the couple could not have legally entered into a surrogacy arrangement in the US due to stricter rules relating to convicted sex offenders there.

The Australian couple would also be prevented from using an overseas surrogate if they lived in NSW, QLD, the ACT or VIC, the Daily Mail reports.

Mamamia reported earlier today that Gammy’s Thai surrogate mother has called for Gammy’s sister to be returned to her, following the of the Australian’s father’s previous conviction.

According to Fairfax,21-year-old surrogate mother Pattharamon Janbua said she was ‘in shock after hearing this story’.

She told Fairfax: “I am very worried about my baby girl…. I need help from anyone who can bring my girl back to me as soon as possible.”

She added: “this news make me sick.

“I will take care of my twin babies. I will not give her or him to any family that wants a baby.”

Previously, Mamamia wrote…

It’s been reported that alleged  father of baby Gammy – the baby boy who was abandoned in Thailand by his biological parents because he was born with Down Syndrome – is a convicted paedophile.

Channel 9 is reporting that Gammy’s father “has a conviction for indecently dealing with a child”.

According to the reports, the man was reportedly found guilty in 1998 and has served time in jail.

A lawyer representing Gammy’s biological parents was expected to make a statement from Western Australia last night.

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.

More to come.

Want to read more about Gammy? Try these:

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

Updates on the Gammy story: Calls for the boy to receive an Australian passport, calls for surrogacy law reform and more.

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

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

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

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