'I Will Take Care of Gammy on My Own:':
Thai Surrogate Mother says She Will Take Care of the Critically-ill Down's Syndrome Baby
-as Fundraising for his Medical Care Tops $155,000
- Pattharamon Janbua says she will care for critically-ill Gammy on her own
- She thanked the people who have donated to the Hope For Gammy fund
- It has now reached more than $155,000 since going live on Friday
- Ms Pattharamon was offered $16,000 to be a surrogate for Gammy
- But when she gave birth to twins the Australian couple only took the girl
- Baby Gammy has been rushed to hospital, with fears he may not survive
- The Australians did not want him because he had Down's syndrome
Daily Mail UK, 3 August 2014
A Thai surrogate mother has vowed to care for the critically-ill baby she gave birth to before he was suddenly abandoned by his Australian parents.
Pattharamon Janbua - the surrogate mother of the six-month-old boy with Down's syndrome - has had her hopes of a spirited survival for Gammy heightened in the days since he has been receiving treatment for a serious lung infection.
Aided by an incredible fundraising effort for his medical costs, which now stands at more than $155,000, Ms Pattharamon said she wants to 'take care of Gammy' as her own. 'I won't give my baby to anybody,' she said
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Thai mother Pattharamon Janbua broke down after telling of her pain for baby Gammy
Ms Janbua said she loved the six-month-old boy like he was her own child
The Thai surrogate mother has received more than $182,000 in donations to care for Gammy after he was abandoned
Her Hopes of a spirited survival for the six-month-old comes after she had all
but conceded on Friday that he would die because of his illness.
Bangkok-based media outlet, the Thai Rath newspaper, reported Ms Janbua believed her son's death was unavoidable.
She has been by his bedside as he battles a lung infection, according to the Thai Rath newspaper.
'I think the baby will not make it because his lung infection is too serious,' she told a Thai Rath reporter.
The 21-year-old has two other children aged six and three, and scores of Australians have also offered to adopt the baby.
The first two targets were $25,000 and $150,000 and were surpassed on Friday and Saturday. More than 2,712 people have donated in the three days since the
Hope For Gammy page went live and the new target is set at $200,000.
Ms Pattharamon said she 'did not expect' to see such a large donation of money pool in, and it has given her renewed hope after she was reduced to tears on Friday.
The 21-year-old broke down when she spoke about how the baby she was paid to carry was was rejected by his Australian parents.
She told of her pain for the child, saying she loved the baby boy like he was her own and her pain has motivated her to take care of him.
The 21-year-old mother - who lives 90km south of Bangkok - had been paid a total of about $16,000 by the couple to give birth to the baby but when she gave birth to twins - a boy and a girl - they only took the girl back to Australia.
Baby boy Gammy has a congenital heart condition and is critically unwell
The surrogate mother, who already had two children of her own, was paid a total of about $16,000 to have the twins - a boy and a girl
The Thai woman - who lives 90km south of Bangkok - has as three-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy of her own
Ms Janbua - who already had two other children aged three and six - said she felt sorry for baby Gammy.
'This was the adults’ fault. And who is he to endure something like this even though it’s not his fault?' she said.
'Why does he have to be abandoned and the other baby has it easy?
'I chose to have him, not to hurt him.'
Ms Janbua said she treated the six-month-old like he was one of her own children.
'I love him, he was in my tummy for nine months, it’s like my child,' she told ABC Australia.
'Never think that you’re not my child, that I don’t care for you.'
This came after an online campaign set up for Gammy raised more than $50,000 after his heartbreaking story was shared.
Baby boy Gammy has a congenital heart condition and is critically unwell.
The Australian couple, who have remained anonymous, reportedly told Ms Chanbua to have an abortion
The couple, who have remained anonymous, reportedly told Ms Janbua to have an abortion when they found out four-months into the pregnancy that one of the babies had Down syndrome.
'I would like to tell Thai women – don't get into this business as a surrogate. Don't just think only for money ... if something goes wrong no one will help us and the baby will be abandoned from society, then we have to take responsibility for that,' Ms Janbua said on Friday.
The couple paid an extra $1673 when they first realised - three-months into the pregnancy - that Ms Janbua was having twins for them.
Ms Janbua is a Buddhist and thinks abortion is a 'sin'.
She originally agreed to become a surrogate mother because of her family's financial problems and the arrangement was set-up through an agency.
The Australian man and his ethnic-Asian wife could not conceive a baby themselves.
Ms Jambua, from a village in Chon Buri province in southern Thailand, gave birth to Gammy and his twin sister in Bangok hospital.
'Because of the poverty and debts, the money that was offered was a lot for me,' she told the ABC.
'In my mind, with that money, we one could educate my children and two we can repay our debt.'
However, when the babies were born the agent took the girl away and delivered her to the Australian couple who Ms Janbua has never met.
She never received the remaining $2341 that she was owed by the agent and is now struggling to keep her baby alive.
A
Hope For Gammy campaign was set up on Go Fund Me and has been inundated by donations.
The page pleads: '6 month old baby Gammy was born in Bangkok with down syndrome and a congenital heart condition. He was abandoned by his family and is being cared for by a young Thai woman who does not have the funds for his desperately needed medical treatment.
'Please make a donation so that he can have these operations and improve his quality of life. All monies raised will be kept in trust and will only be used for the care and wellbeing of Gammy.'
Australian Man & his Asian wife (above left) choose healthy twin
Ms Chanbua, 21, agreed to become a surrogate mother because of her family's financial problems
One doctor has donated $3,000 to the cause.
An administrator for the page wrote: 'Dr Pisit of ALL IVF has made a very generous donation after hearing about the Gammy Story. No ALL IVF Center staff have ever been involved in the Gammy case, but are touched by his situation and wanted to help. Thank you very much.'
Gammy's tragic story has caused outrage on Twitter.
Richard Long wrote: 'Takes a bit to make me angry but this story does. what greedy, selfish people.'
Another user, @ChickkinOz, said 'these people need to be financially responsible for this child and woman for life. Unbelievable, how are they parents.'
While @BCmanutddesi called it 'OUTRAGEOUS!!
'This story just makes my blood boil!!,' @parentingfiles said.
Australians are not the only people that travel to Thailand for surrogacy reasons.
Earlier his year, there were 65 babies stuck in Thailand that were conceived by gay Israeli couples and birthed by surrogate Thai women
The claims were made by the Facebook group 'Help Us Bring the Babies Home'.
The babies were allegedly unable to be brought to Israel because the Interior Ministry Gideon Sa'ar has not granted Israeli citizenship to the infants.
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THE SURROGACY PROCESS IN AUSTRALIA VS THAILAND
Commercial surrogacy is banned in Australia and it is illegal for people living in Queensland, NSW and the ACT to undertake commercial surrogacy in Thailand. It's also illegal for Australians to select a baby's sex.
Current Australian Medicare policy forbids Medicare rebates for IVF use for surrogacy and to receive surrogacy as a treatment option in Australia the following conditions must be fulfilled:
- The intending parent has a defined medical disorder that makes it impossible or unacceptably dangerous to carry a baby in her uterus.
- The surrogate is older than 25, and younger than the age of natural menopause (52 years of age). This may be increased slightly to 55 in the unique situation of a surrogate who is the mother or mother-in-law of the intending parent.
- The surrogate must have already given birth to a healthy child of her own.
- The surrogate does not have a past history of pregnancy-related illnesses or complications.
- The surrogate has had an established relationship with the intending parents for at least two years by the time of the embryo transfer.
- Neither the surrogate or intending parents suffer from a significant psychiatric disorder that would impair decision-making or the care of the child.
Many Australians have flocked to Thailand over the years because the rules were far less strict. However, the rules have changed this week.
After Thailand’s military government reviewed 12 Thai IVF clinics involved in surrogacy cases they have announced new laws.
Surrogacy is now only recognised in Thailand if:
- The intended parents are a heterosexual married couple who are medically infertile.
- The surrogacy is altruistic.
- The surrogate is a blood relative.
Surrogacy in Thailand is illegal if:
- The intended parent or parents are unmarried under Thai law (i.e. de facto couples, same sex couples and singles are excluded).
- Any money is paid to the surrogate.
- The removal of the child from Thailand without permission of Thai authorities will breach Thailand's human trafficking laws.
These new laws will now exclude almost every Australian from pursuing surrogacy in Thailand.
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