The story below was copied from a yahoo article.


A campaign has begun in Australia to raise funds for baby Gammy, a 6-month-old boy with Down’s Syndrome and congenital heart disease currently living in Thailand.

He was born to a 21-year-old Thai woman, Pattharamon Janbua, after Pattharamon entered into a commercial surrogacy arrangement with an Australian couple. She was to be paid A$11,700 to be the surrogate mother, and has told media that she agreed to the arrangement because she had a large debt that she would not otherwise be able to pay.

After implantation of the embryos, it was discovered Pattharamon was pregnant with twins. She was offered an additional A$1,637 for the second child.

Four months into the pregnancy, one of the twins was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome. The Australian couple insisted that Pattharamon undergo an abortion, but she refused because she considered abortion to be a sin.

Pattharamon gave birth to Gammy and also to a healthy baby girl. In addition to Down’s Syndrome, Gammy also has congenital heart disease. The Australian couple took the baby girl, but left Gammy behind to be cared for by his mother, who was paid just under A$11,000 of the money promised to her.

Commercial surrogacy is illegal in Australia. Any surrogacy arrangements must be altruistic, with the birth mother only reimbursed for reasonable expenses. The limited permissibility of surrogacy in Australia has given rise to a form of reproductive tourism, with Australians travelling overseas to enter into commercial surrogacy arrangements. Reproductive tourism is now a multi-billion dollar industry.