Surrogate baby left in India due to gender

As reported in 'The Japan News' : The Associated Press CANBERRA (AP) — An Australian couple rejected their biological child born to an Indian surrogate mother because of the baby’s gender, but took home its twin sibling, a judge said. News of the case that dates back to 2012 follows a recent furor over an Australian couple that left behind a disabled twin born to a Thai surrogate mother that prompted a ban on commercial surrogacy in Thailand. Australian Family Court Chief Justice Diana Bryant told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview broadcast on Thursday that she was told by Australian Embassy officials in New Delhi that the couple’s decision to leave their biological baby in India was based on its gender. The twins were a brother and sister. “I don’t know whether it was the boy or the girl, but they already had a child of one sex and they wanted the other sex and they didn’t want the child,” she told the media outlet. The Australian High Commission in New Delhi delayed giving the Australian parents a visa for the wanted child while they tried to persuade them to take both children, Bryant said. The unwanted baby was accepted by another family in India who might have bought it, Bryant said. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Bryant was not available to comment on Thursday. Federal Circuit Court Chief Judge John Pascoe has called for a national inquiry into international commercial surrogacy. “I find it almost unbelievable that Australians would be choosing a child on the basis of sex and it’s particularly tragic when you think there are wonderful people out there who would love to have a child of any sex,” Pascoe told the media outlet.