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.
