The Australian parents of twins born via surrogacy in Thailand misled consulate staff about the fate of one of the twins, who they abandoned, government documents have revealed.
Controversy erupted in August last year after it was revealed Wendy and David Farnell left the baby, named Gammy, behind while taking his twin sister, Pipah, to Australia.
Gammy, who has Down’s syndrome, is with his Thai birth mother, Pattaramon Chanbua, who said the Farnells asked her to abort him after learning of his condition.
Pattaramon has previously said David Farnell provided the sperm and an unnamed Thai woman provided eggs that led to her carrying the twins.
While there have been conflicting reports about why Gammy was abandoned by the Farnells, freedom of information documents obtained by the ABC have revealed new information about how they sought to leave Gammy behind.
After the story broke last year, David Farnell insisted he had tried to take Gammy to Australia.
But the documents reveal Farnell misled government officials in Canberra by telling them they could not afford him and that they would be leaving Gammy with close friends in India who desperately wanted a child but could not conceive.
A cable from early 2013 shows Australian high commission staff realised the proposed adoptive parents were in fact not close friends of the biological parents, but were known to the biological parents through a close family friend.
The ABC also revealed a Department of Foreign Affairs email warned the Farnells that returning to Australia without Gammy could leave him stateless, because India did not recognise surrogate children as citizens.
The department said it would be extremely difficult for it to provide any assistance to Gammy, because the Farnells had no intention of bringing him home and applying for him to become an Australian citizen.
In December 2012, however, consular staff nonetheless allowed the Farnells to return home with only the baby girl, despite the department’s concerns “our approach will leave us exposed to media and parliamentary scrutiny”, the documents show.
Gammy was granted Australian citizenship in January after his plight gained international attention. Last year it was revealed Farnell had previously been convicted of 22 child sex offences and had spent time in prison.
Pattaramon has received help to care for Gammy from charity organisations.
