As the Thai surrogate whom they employed to carry their babies declares she wants Gammy’s twin sister to be returned to her in light of the revelations, more details of David and Wendy Farnell’s history has emerged.
The couple, who live in the town of Bunbury in south-west WA, wed in 2004 – eight months after meeting through the matchmaking website Qpid success.
Mr Farnell, who was jailed in the late ’90s for sexually molesting two girls under the age of ten and then convicted and sentenced on six counts of indecently dealing with a child aged under 13 in a separate case, is reported to have two adult children from a previous marriage.
The electrician went to Jianjing in China to meet Wendy Li and returned to marry her. They were described as “very responsible and sincere to their marriage” by Zhanjiang Happy Marriage Agency.
The Farnells have denied allegations that they abandoned their biological baby Gammy, who has Down syndrome and a congenital heart condition, to an impoverished surrogate in Thailand but took his twin sister home to WA.
They claim he wasn’t expected to survive more than a day after birth and they had to leave with their baby girl amid a legal battle over paternal rights and military unrest in Thailand. They deny asking for an abortion.
Gammy, now eight months, is believed to be out of danger following a chest infection. He has remained with his 21-year-old surrogate mother Pattaramon Janbua, who has vowed to keep him and received about $16,000 for the surrogacy, since birth. She told the Seven Network: “If the father is an offender I want my daughter back.”
Wendy Farnell has insisted her husband is a good man despite his criminal past.
More than $236,000 has been raised to help with treatment for Gammy’s heart condition.
The Vatican has waded into a now worldwide debate over Gammy’s plight, condemning the Farnells for allegedly abandoning their child in Thailand.
The couple were originally reported to have denied knowing about Gammy’s existence.
