Buy a baby

25 September 2014

By Caitlin Virtue

The story of baby Gammy, and the ramifications it has had for Australians seeking a baby by surrogate in Thailand, is fuelling much debate about the international and domestic options available to Australians pursuing parenthood.

This blog exists to explore how the rights of the child can best be protected while satisfying the desires of Western couples unable to naturally conceive a baby.

Baby Gammy in Thailand. Photo: Sky

Commercial surrogacy is outlawed in Australia, yet there are hundreds of babies produced every year for Australian couples at overseas clinics. Following the Thai government’s crackdown on surrogacy services, Australian couples are continuing to seek surrogates in India, and looking to new frontiers such as Mexico and Nepal.

The exchange of money is justified in overseas surrogacy arrangements as compensation for the surrogate mother’s services, essentially renting her womb to people seeking a baby.

While buying a baby may remedy the emotional response felt by people who cannot naturally conceive, there is no right to be a parent. The concept of parental rights only comes into play once a child exists, and fundamentally the notion refers to the right of parents to raise their child as they see fit.

Despite someone being in a financial position where they can afford to pay for a baby through commercial surrogacy, a child should never be bought and sold. The practice reduces children and the woman’s uterus to be commodities, in a transaction that promotes exploitation.

Gammy was apparently abandoned due to his Down syndrome – He was an imperfect product. Even more disturbing, his Australian father is a convicted paedophile.

Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell, argues it is not unrealistic to consider determined predators will use surrogacy as a method to procure access to children.

In 2013, Australian citizen, Mark J. Newton, was sentenced to 40years in an American prison for sexually abusing a boy he adopted via surrogacy. Newton and his long-term boyfriend Peter Truong, started abusing the boy days after his birth and over six years they travelled the world to offer him to an international syndicate of paedophiles.

Newton, right, with Truong and their son. Photo: ABC

More recently, a New South Wales man was charged in September with sexually abusing his twin daughters born to a surrogate in Thailand.

It cannot be denied that payment for surrogacy creates a market for a life, of which the mere existence is an abuse of human rights. Prospective parents and national, state and international leaders should no longer ignore the reality of a baby trade, accessed by anyone with enough money.

Further reading

Australian Government: Rights of parents and children, W n.d., viewed 11 October 2014, <http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights/PublicSectorGuidanceSheets/Pages/Rightsofparentsandchildren.aspx>.

Browne, R 2014, Australian parents turn to Mexico as Thailand tightens surrogacy laws, viewed 11 October 2014, <http://www.smh.com.au/world/australian-parents-turn-to-mexico-as-thailand-tightens-surrogacy-laws-20140807-101e3n.html#ixzz3DZEmGCAA>.

News.com: Thousands of Australians paying for surrogacy in India and Thailand, viewed 11 October 2014, <http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/thousands-of-infertile-australians-paying-for-surrogacy-in-india-and-thailand/story-fnet08xa-1226872653386>.

Ralston, D 2013, Named: the Australian paedophile jailed for 40 years, viewed 11 October 2014,<http://www.smh.com.au/national/named-the-australian-paedophile-jailed-for-40-years-20130630-2p5da.html>.