Earlier this August a story circulated about an Australian couple who contracted with a Thai woman to carry a surrogate pregnancy. Surrogate Pattaramon Chanbua, a 21-year-old food vendor with two young children of her own, carried unborn twins for the Australian couple. One was born healthy, the other with Down syndrome and a congenital heart condition. According to an Associated Press report, the couple took the healthy child and returned to Australia, allegedly abandoning their other baby with his Thai surrogate mother, who has reportedly not been paid the full $9,300 fee she was promised. The Australian couple has denied the allegation, although they admit to anger that the surrogacy agency had not conducted tests earlier to detect Down syndrome. Had they known earlier, they probably would have terminated the pregnancy, the father told the AP.
“I don’t think any parent wants a son with a disability,” he said, apparently oblivious that his reasoning was not helping his cause. “Parents want their children to be healthy and happy.”
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