Aussie father's surrogacy miracle: 'Don't judge us all'

There’s no one more moved by six-month-old Gammy’s plight than 42-year-old Adrian Raftery, whose own treasured son Hamish was born via surrogate.

The sequence of events that led to Gammy – who has Down syndrome and heart problems – being abandoned in Thailand are still being investigated.

Adrian and Kylie’s dream came true when Hamish was born in 2012 via an Aussie surrogate. They are hoping new laws will not prevent other couples from having a longed-for family. Source: New Idea

But his 21-year-old Thai surrogate Pattharamon Janbua claims his intended Aussie parents relinquished him after learning he was sick – despite whisking his healthy sister back to Australia.

To Adrian, the situation is abhorrent – and not just for little Gammy - he fears the process of surrogacy, which made his own family complete, is now being tainted, with other families at risk of having their happiness snatched away in the resulting crackdown.

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"If they knowingly left Gammy behind, that is incredibly selfish. Not only for their own family, but for putting other families without children at risk if the [surrogacy] laws become even more restrictive as a result of this case," he says.

"There are potentially hundreds of other families that deserve a child that they will never meet, if knee-jerk legislation is introduced."

Though Adrian and his wife Kylie were lucky enough to find an Australian surrogate, the laws are incredibly complex, which is why many Aussies feel forced to go overseas.

Read the full story in this week's New Idea magazine, on sale now!