A Thai-Ausutralian Story

Life is its own value and beauty. 

Last week, there was a breaking story.  It was the story of a surrogacy agreement gone bad.  It is a sad story because at the centre of it is a baby rejected by its Australian parents and left here with the Thai woman who gave birth to him, or that is how the story first presented itself.  Then as time has lapsed, more of the story has been shared, becoming more and more complex.

So what is the real story?  Truth is that I don't know.  I am reading at least two sides to what has become a developing and fascinating story to follow but what remains a sad story of a little baby waiting to belong to someone.   

The Thai side is that the Australian couple rejected the baby boy because he is Down's syndrome and that they left Thailand, owing the surrogate mother money.  The surrogate mother is a food vendor from Chonburi, a poor woman.  She proclaims her undying love for the baby, claiming that the Australian couple were pushing for a late term abortion.  She has subsequently announced that she was filing a lawsuit in Thailand to get unpaid money from the Australian couple.

The story from the Australian side is that the couple did not know about the existence of the boy as the surrogacy agency withheld this information from them.  However, I also read that they talked of the the surrogate mother going to another hospital, other than the one named in their agreement, to have the babies.  Because of this action, they say they lost their legal right to the babies, with the surrogate mother agreeing to hand over only the girl.  They then say that they had to leave Thailand due to political unrest in the country and fear that they might have lost both children. 

So the story keeps unfolding.  Who knows the real story?  Only the people involved.  I won't go further into it as it only becomes more complicated and one may lose sight of who is at the heart of all this - a little boy.  The nature of the story itself has captured me as it so reflects my experience of Thailand.  Time and again as I face daily tasks and challenges and issues, I ask myself what is really going on here.  I am beyond asking what is true as whatever is happening it is not simply about facts and telling the truth or not.  It is about what is real and how we approach reality.  It seems that different peoples approach reality differently.   

My basic line is that I so feel for this little child caught up in this story.  He is an innocent victim at the centre of love and attention it seems coming from both sides.  My one bit of reinforced insight that I can share out of this story is that we need to know who we are dealing with and what is at play when acting in life.  I am not discussing surrogacy here.  That is a whole other issue for thought and reflection.  I am just reflecting on this one story and what it tells me in my reality in a foreign culture and country.

In a Thailand, in unknown territory, we can't just jump in and think it is like what I know back home.  So much may be at play here of which I am not aware.  In our Thailands, we are on foreign soil and we can't expect such places in life to fit in with what we know or understand nor to respond as we expect.  We have to act wisely and, as I have learnt here, stand back and listen, ready for any surprise.