Expert: Surrogate kids face rejection

A newborn Down syndrome baby left by his Australian biological father with his poor surrogate mother in Thailand was one of several cases of surrogate children abandoned because of defects, an expert told a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday.

The high-profile case of baby Gammy prompted the Thai government to ban surrogacy in 2014, and an Australian parliamentary committee launched a review of Australia's laws that prohibit commercial surrogacy.

Gammy was left with his surrogate mother, Pattaramon Chanbua, a 21-year-old food vendor with two young children of her own, when he was born in December 2013. Pattaramon accused the boy's biological parents, Wendy and David Farnell, of leaving her with the infant while taking his healthy twin sister, Pipah, back with them to Australia.