Front: Calls for rethink of rules on surrogacy as couple deny leaving baby in Thailand: Australian officials say boy may be given citizenship Parents of child's 'twin' say she does not have brother

• Published in: The Guardian (London)
• Main Author: Alexandra Topping Brendan Foster
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Guardian News & Media Limited 05.08.2014
• Subjects: Morrison, Scott
• ISSN: 0261-3077

The immigration minister, Scott Morrison, told Sydney Radio 2GB that Chanbua was "an absolute hero" and "a saint". Morrison said the legalities surrounding international surrogacy were "very, very, very murky" and called for regulations to be examined. "Sure, there are lots of Australians who are desperate to be parents but that can never, I think, sanction what we have just seen here," he said. She told the Associated Press that the agency organising the surrogacy knew about Gammy's condition four to five months after she became pregnant, but did not tell her. When it suggested in her seventh month of pregnancy that she should abort one of the twins, she refused. She was promised A$16,000 (pounds 8,900), but had yet to see all of the money, she said. "I've never felt angry at them or hated them. I'm always willing to forgive them," she said of Gammy's biological parents. "I want to see that they love the baby girl as much as my family loves Gammy. I want her to be well taken care of." Sarah Taylor Jones, part of the UK-based surrogacy support network Surrogacy UK, said complicated international laws were leaving children and parents vulnerable. "I was frankly just surprised something like this hasn't happened before," she said. "International surrogacy is very impersonal and very commercial."