A man who abandoned his baby son in Thailand after it was revealed he had Down syndrome has allegedly tried to access donations raised for the infant's medial costs.
David Farnell and wife Wendy Li made international headlines last year after they left their baby son Gammy in Thailand with his surrogate mother, Pattaramon Chanbua. The couple returned to Australia with Gammy’s twin sister, who did not have the condition.
Ms Chanbua agreed to raise Gammy, and people from around the world donated money to help her cover his medical costs.
But Peter Baines, head of the Hands Across The Water foundation, said in a statement that Mr Farnell was now trying to access donations made to the charity for Gammy.
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"Hands Across the Water was made aware several weeks ago that the Farnells were taking action in relation to accessing the Baby Gammy Special Appeal Fund," he said. "We have no information as to the justification the Farnells, or their legal team, are making to support the application for access to the funds.
"We take this matter very seriously and we are doing all that we can to defend this action to ensure the money donated remains for the care of Baby Gammy, which we believe was the intent of those who so generously donated the funds.
"Hands Across the Water prides itself on the fact that 100 per cent of donated funds go directly to support the children and communities in which we operate in Thailand - and this applies to the funds that we manage on behalf of Baby Gammy."
Ms Chanbua told the ABC she was outraged Mr Farnell, a convicted sex offender, would be taking such action.
"He does not deserve or have any rights to the fund as he abandoned Gammy in the first place," she said.
Earlier this year the Department of Immigration and Border Protection granted baby Gammy Australian citizenship.
