... when you'd been shopping for human beings?
First World Problems indeed.... First World, on so many levels, entitlement, playing God, exploitation of 3rd world labor...
But you see, this wasn't what they had been comissioned:
A campaign has begun in Australia to raise funds for baby Gammy, a 6-month-old boy with Down’s Syndrome and congenital heart disease currently living in Thailand.
He was born to a 21-year-old Thai woman [who] was to be paid A$11,700 to be the surrogate mother, and has told media that she agreed to the arrangement because she had a large debt that she would not otherwise be able to pay. After implantation of the embryos, it was discovered [she] was pregnant with twins. She was offered an additional A$1,637 for the second child.
Four months into the pregnancy, one of the twins was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome. The Australian couple insisted that [she] undergo an abortion, but she refused because she considered abortion to be a sin.
[The surrogate] gave birth to Gammy and also to a healthy baby girl. In addition to Down’s Syndrome, Gammy also has congenital heart disease. The Australian couple took the baby girl, but left Gammy behind to be cared for by his mother, who was paid just under A$11,000 of the money promised to her.....The limited permissibility of surrogacy in Australia has given rise to a form of reproductive tourism, with Australians travelling overseas to enter into commercial surrogacy arrangements. Reproductive tourism is now a multi-billion dollar industry.
India has been a popular destination for Australians, but because Indian law only allows heterosexual couples to participate in surrogacy arrangements, Thailand is becoming increasingly popular for same-sex couples and single people. ... Until recently, Thai law ... required the surrogate mother to be single because, if she was married, her husband automatically becomes the child’s father under Thai law.
What this meant was that the only women who were eligible to be surrogates were single mothers, leading to the risk that vulnerable women could be exploited in surrogacy arrangements....
Following the case of baby Gammy and others similar incidents where biological parents have rejected a baby born with a “defect” and withheld payment from the surrogate mothers, the Thai government has tightened its laws. Commercial surrogacy is no longer permitted in Thailand.
The fundraising site for Gammy is: http://www.gofundme.com/bxci90
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