# When surrogacy goes bad.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626 "2014-08-02T06:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/101 "2014-08-05T16:33:29Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Well, if you’re a man, or dealing with surrogacy, you’re taking a risk. Women are taking one set of risks, men another. Sucks to be human. We’ve created these things called civilization, technology, and the law to reduce the amount of risky suckiness, the human race has to suffer under. It’s unfortunate that some people only think protection should apply to them. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/102 "2014-08-05T16:39:48Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > We’ve created these things called civilization, technology, and the law to reduce the amount of risky suckiness, the human race has to suffer under. It’s unfortunate that some people only think protection should apply to them. Civilization includes dealing with the results of your actions, not just forcing others to cope. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/103 "2014-08-05T17:35:37Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > If the boy does have a heart condition, I wonder if it’s true that it wasn’t safe for him to travel, especially by airplane. I’m not saying this gives the parents a pass, I’m just saying that this one thing may actually be true, FWIW. Heart conditions of various degrees of severity are often coupled with Down’s Syndrome. I’d tend to believe that part. I wonder, if the child had not had Down’s, and just the heart trouble, would the parent’s have taken him home? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/104 "2014-08-05T18:11:29Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I wonder, if the child had not had Down’s, and just the heart trouble, would the parent’s have taken him home? What is the law in Australia on providing medical care for a child? Would the parents be required to allow the defect to be surgically repaired? In the US, children born with DS and numerous other defects sometimes are allowed to die of the other defects (one defect they sometimes have is an esophagus that is not attached to their stomach, and they would have to have a tube surgically installed for feeding until they are old enough for surgery to connect the esophagus; not treating this usually means the child dies in about a week). I wonder if by leaving the child behind, the parents were counting on him dying soon of the heart defect because the surrogate couldn’t afford to repair it. Or maybe they thought it couldn’t be done as well in Thailand as in Australia (this I doubt, though, considering that Bangkok is one of the leading centers of gender reassignment surgeries, but who knows what the parents know?) But it might really be true that having the child travel by air wasn’t an option. He might need supplemental oxygen, and most airlines won’t let people board with oxygen tanks; others do, but they make you jump through a dozen hoops, and others allow only oxygen concentrators, but not tanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/105 "2014-08-06T12:33:52Z")
Today’s news: their dog has been taken by the RSPCA because it has been left at the house for the last two or three days without food since the Farnells fled the press. And the father has 22 child sex convictions, including some for molesting girls aged 7 and 10 when he was in his mid 20s. > **[Baby Gammy's father has 22 child sex convictions](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-06/baby-gammys-father-convicted-on-more-than-20-child-sex-charges/5653502)** > > Court documents have revealed the Western Australian father at the centre of an international surrogacy controversy has been convicted of more than 20 child sex offences. > > Fifty-six-year-old David John Farnell and his wife have been accused by a Thai... ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/106 "2014-08-06T16:10:39Z")
Updates: [Gammy has a fit heart, doctors say: Parents hit back at his surrogate mum](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/health/425206/gammy-has-a-fit-heart-doctors-say) [Gammy clinic may have broken rules](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/425299/gammy-clinic-may-have-broken-rules) And the couple’s names: [David and Wendy Farrell](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/425302/gammy-dad-named-investigated), but an earlier post in this thread lists their surname as Farnell. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/107 "2014-08-06T19:22:42Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And the couple’s names: [David and Wendy Farrell](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/425302/gammy-dad-named-investigated), but an earlier post in this thread lists their surname as Farnell. Australian media still predominantly reporting the surname as Farnell: > **[Gammy's father acted 'without remorse' in assaulting four girls, one aged...](https://www.9news.com.au/national/gammys-father-found-guilty-of-indecent-assault/4cafe1a1-0d51-48ab-bd96-a532142c7848)** > > The father involved in a surrogacy scandal was found guilty of more than 20 child sex charges against four ... > **[Baby Gammy's father has 22 child sex convictions](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-06/baby-gammys-father-convicted-on-more-than-20-child-sex-charges/5653502)** > > Court documents have revealed the Western Australian father at the centre of an international surrogacy controversy has been convicted of more than 20 child sex offences. > > Fifty-six-year-old David John Farnell and his wife have been accused by a Thai... > **[Gammy father David Farnell 'robbed' two girls of their childhood, judge says](https://www.smh.com.au/national/gammy-father-david-farnell-robbed-two-girls-of-their-childhood-judge-says-20140806-1018os.html)** > > The father of a baby boy at the centre of an international surrogacy scandal 'robbed' two young girls of their childhood when he sexually assaulted them in the 1980s, a West Australian judge said when he sentenced him in 1997. > **[Judges blasted Farnell assaults](https://au.news.yahoo.com/judges-blasted-farnell-assaults-185521836.html)** > > Bunbury father at centre of surrogacy scandal robbed childhoods of two young girls whom he repeatedly sexually assaulted in the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/108 "2014-08-07T02:50:58Z")
The plot gets weirder with a fresh surrogacy scandal here: [Nine babies found in Bangkok ‘surrogate condo’: Japanese man claims to be biological father](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/425450/nine-babies-found-in-bangkok-urrogate-condo) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/109 "2014-08-07T03:50:28Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The plot gets weirder with a fresh surrogacy scandal here: > > [Nine babies found in Bangkok ‘surrogate condo’: Japanese man claims to be biological father](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/425450/nine-babies-found-in-bangkok-urrogate-condo) I also seem to recall a year or so ago a scandal broke involving Vietnamese women being brought to Thailand to act as surrogate mothers. I’d say the authorities are now about to crack down on the practice. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/110 "2014-08-07T05:21:56Z")
I can’t keep up with all the changes in “he said, she said, they did”. The story changes several times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/111 "2014-08-07T07:57:56Z")
The biofather’s adult son says his father has made mistakes, but has made up for them, and that it took his dad ten years to get his life back in track so to have this come up now is “heartbreaking”. > **[Baby Gammy case: Son of paedophile David Farnell defends his father](https://www.smh.com.au/national/baby-gammy-case-son-of-paedophile-david-farnell-defends-his-father-20140807-3d9ck.html)** > > A son has vowed to stand by his father, despite allegations the convicted paedophile abandoned critically-ill baby Gammy in Thailand. Interesting way to describe his father’s history of “inappropriately touching and forcing to perform sex acts on him” girls as young as 7 over a two year period, and again 15 years later. Forgive me if I save my sympathy for someone who deserves it. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/112 "2014-08-07T13:39:21Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Today’s news: \*\*their dog has been taken by the RSPCA because it has been left at the house for the last two or three days without food \*\*since the Farnells fled the press. > > And the father has 22 child sex convictions, including some for molesting girls aged 7 and 10 when he was in his mid 20s. > > [Baby Gammy: Court documents reveal father of surrogacy babies has been convicted of more than 20 child sex offences - ABC News](http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-06/baby-gammys-father-convicted-on-more-than-20-child-sex-charges/5653502) Okay, NOW they are officially the worst people ever! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/113 "2014-08-07T14:40:27Z")
The broker for the surrogacy agency has come out swinging against the surrogate: [Report: Surrogate lied, recruited others: Broker claims Pattaramon paid in full, recruited others](http://www.bangkokpost.com/most-recent/425531/report-surrogate-lied-recruited-others) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/114 "2014-08-07T17:34:08Z")
How soon before the Lifetime network movie? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/115 "2014-08-09T00:26:05Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The plot gets weirder with a fresh surrogacy scandal here: > > [Nine babies found in Bangkok ‘surrogate condo’: Japanese man claims to be biological father](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/425450/nine-babies-found-in-bangkok-urrogate-condo) [The Japanese man responsible for this above has fled the country](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/425690/japanese-claimed-to-be-father-of-9-surrogate-babies-flees-on-flight-to-macau). You can see his passport photo in the linked story. 24 years old and entered 65 times in the past two years. (Entered … Thailand … that is, heh.) ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/116 "2014-08-09T04:53:34Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The broker for the surrogacy agency has come out swinging against the surrogate: [Report: Surrogate lied, recruited others: Broker claims Pattaramon paid in full, recruited others](http://www.bangkokpost.com/most-recent/425531/report-surrogate-lied-recruited-others) I’m not sticking up for the surrogate but I don’t think I’d believe a word the agency says. They have, after all, a business to protect and future parents to entice. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/117 "2014-08-09T07:58:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > How soon before the Lifetime network movie? Movie next month. 😃 Tomorrow night (Sunday) the Farnells are being interviewed on the Aussie 60 Minutes program. Hardly cutting-edge journalism at the _best_ of times (although when the program first started in the 1970’s it had some exceptional investigative journos and editors) I expect just more tabloid dreck. Of course, it’ll kill the ratings! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/118 "2014-08-09T18:08:16Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Tomorrow night (Sunday) the Farnells are being interviewed on the Aussie 60 Minutes program. Hardly cutting-edge journalism at the _best_ of times (although when the program first started in the 1970’s it had some exceptional investigative journos and editors) I expect just more tabloid dreck. Oh, please, somebody post it to youtube! Then I can post it under “worst TV I’ve ever watched.” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/119 "2014-08-10T13:12:51Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Oh, please, somebody post it to youtube! Then I can post it under “worst TV I’ve ever watched.” Try this link: [http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/videoindex.aspx](http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/videoindex.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626/120 "2014-08-10T22:30:18Z")
I watched the first part of it last night. That was certainly… something. I felt like I needed a shower afterwards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-surrogacy-goes-bad/694626.md?page=7)