David and Wendy Farnell, of south Bunbury in WA, admitted they had asked for their money back after discovering their baby son had Down syndrome late in their Thai surrogate’s pregnancy.
“Give us back our money because this is your [the surrogacy agency’s] fault,” Mr Farnell, a convicted sex offender, said. “The money that we’ve given you… give it back now.”
Admitting they would have terminated if they had found out earlier, he added, “I don’t think any parent wants a son with a disability.”
However, the couple denied they had abandoned now six-month-old Gammy – who has been raised ever since by his now fiercely protective surrogate mother Pattaramon Janbua – and claimed they only returned to Australia with Gammy’s healthy twin sister to make sure she was “safe” first.
But during a series of persistent questioning by the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown, Mr Farnell admitted he hadn’t checked on his baby son’s welfare since fleeing the country. He claimed to have sent money to help with his care but was unsure how much.
Ms Januba, who was struggling financially to provide for Gammy’s medical care until she spoke out about her plight and a fundraising effort raised more than $240,000, has said she will refuse any donation made on behalf of the Farnells’ through their interview.
In the latest twist to the case, she claims the eggs used in her pregnancy did not come from Mrs Farnell but from a Thai egg donor.
It emerged the Farnells, described as “the most hated couple in Australia”, hadn’t tried to extend their visas nor sought help from the Australian Embassy before flying home to Australia with their daughter.
They said they didn’t know what to do and were stressed, claiming Ms Januba had threatened to keep their daughter amid legal uncertainly over their parental rights. They were also unnerved by military unrest in Thailand.
Mr Farnell, an electrician who spent time in jail in the late ’90s for sexual offences against young girls aged between five and 13, claimed he no longer felt paedophilic urges.
His daughter was “100 per cent safe” in his care, he said. Mrs Farnell, whom he met through a Chinese marriage agency, claimed he was “a good man”.
The Farnells’ version of events, in which they refer to their son as “the little boy”, has appeared contradictory at times.
WA Child Protection is investigating the family.
