The daughter of a convicted child sex offender at the centre of the baby Gammy surrogacy scandal has defended her West Australian father, insisting he is a reformed man and a good parent.
Bunbury woman Jane Farnell believes she is one of the luckiest people in the world to have grown up with David Farnell, who has custody of seven-month-old Pipah, born via a surrogate in Thailand.
Pipah's twin brother Gammy has Down syndrome and remains in Thailand with 21-year-old surrogate Pattaramon Chanbua.
Ms Farnell, who is expecting her own child, told the Bunbury Mail her father and his wife Wendy deserved to raise a family together after trying for almost 10 years to have a child.
She described Pipah as the happiest little girl who only cried when she was teething.
Child protection authorities are still investigating the safety and wellbeing of Pipah, while the scandal has sparked debate about surrogacy laws in Australia.
Ms Farnell said her father's convictions for indecently dealing with three girls in the 1990s devastated her family.
"But I believe in the system - they wouldn't have let him out or let him see me again if they thought he was a risk," she said.
Ms Farnell, who was 14 when her father was released from prison, said she respected him for staying in Bunbury for his family instead of running away.
She described the couple as broken when they returned home without Gammy, claiming they had to do it or risk leaving both babies in Thailand.
I don't know who to blame because you don't know what the surrogate mother was told," she said.
"I would hate to place blame without knowing everything."
Ms Farnell said her father and his wife had been through every avenue to get pregnant and lost a lot of money.
"Anybody that has gone down that road would know, no matter how your child had been born or what disability they were born with, you wouldn't be able to leave it behind on purpose," she said.
Ms Farnell also took the blame for early misinformation over what had happened to Gammy when the story first broke.
News circulated that the Farnells believed Gammy had died, but Ms Farnell said that information came from her - not the parents.
The only reason I told my friends that he had died was that it was easier than dragging them into all the confusion," she said.
"I thought it would be easier to say he had passed away and then have to explain it later on if he came home."
Ms Farnell said the family was trying to reunite Gammy with his sister in Bunbury.
