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Tag: medical tourism

  • Australian Couple Ditches Baby With Thai Surrogate

    Australian Couple Ditches Baby With Thai Surrogate

    An Australian couple who paid a Thai surrogate to carry their twin babies left one near Bangkok after finding out the boy had Down’s Syndrome and a congenital heart condition. The couple returned to Australia with a healthy girl.

    Pattaramon Chanbua, 21, was paid roughly $14,900 to carry the twins who were born in December, and has been caring for the boy since. The abandoned baby is named Gammy, and so far a crowdfunding effort entitled Hope for Gammy has raised over $160K to help pay for his medical expenses.

    Pattaramon, who resides in the Chonburi province, southeast of Bangkok, commented, “The money that was offered was a lot for me. In my mind, with that money, one, we can educate my children, two, we can repay our debt.”

    Pattaramon added, “I don’t know what to do. I chose to have him. I love him, he was in my tummy for nine months.”

    The actions of the Australian couple who abandoned their their son sparked outrage and shed light upon the seedier aspects of Thai medical tourism.

    Paying for surrogacy in Thailand is illegal, according to Tares Krassanairawiwong, a Thai public health ministry official. “Surrogacy can be done in Thailand but it has to comply with the laws. A surrogate has to be related to the intended parents and no money can be involved,” Krassanairawiwong said.

    Pattaramon never actually met Gammy’s biological parents, and their identities remain anonymous. The young mother told Thai newspaper Thairath, “They (the surrogacy agency) told me to carry a baby for a family that does not have children. They said it would be a baby in a tube.”

    “I don’t wish him to be the smart boy or intelligent person. I just want to see him as a good man,” Pattaramon said.

    Many couples visit Thailand to use its in-vitro fertilization (IVF) services regardless of a vague legal situation surrounding surrogacy.

    Image via Hope for Gammy

  • Dominican Surgeries Kill Americans

    Dominican Surgeries Kill Americans

    The lure of cheap beauty is killing people. In America, it costs an arm and a leg to fix your boobs and butt. A short plane ride to the Dominican Republic can mean a much cheaper price on cosmetic surgeries. But there are risks involved that some people are not making it home from.

    The New York Daily News tells the tale of one woman, Beverly Brignoni, who flew to Santo Domingo for a tummy tuck. She died on the operating table. Her boyfriend had flown down with her and was in a waiting room when he was given the horrible news. The cause of death was a coronary embolism.

    The hospital where Brignoni had her procedure was shut down after her death when officials from the Ministry of Health inspected it and found bacteria and violations of bio-sanitary regulations.

    The Centers for Disease Control has issued a warning about the dangers of cosmetic surgeries in the Dominican Republic. The cause is listed as “rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterial (RG-NTM) surgical-site infections … exhibiting a high degree of antibiotic resistance”.

    The CDC further recommended:

    CDC advises all persons planning to receive surgical care outside the United States to verify that the health-care provider and facility they are considering using are licensed and accredited by an internationally recognized accreditation organization before proceeding. These findings indicate that health-care providers consider RG-NTM among patients with a history of cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic who also have a surgical-site infection that fails to respond to standard therapy.

    The CDC noted 19 women in five states who had been infected in this manner.

    Traveling outside the United States for health care is called “medical tourism”. There are risks involved, including poor communication due to language differences, counterfeit medication, poorly screened blood supply, antibiotic resistant bacteria, and the risks of flying after surgery.

    The CDC reports on this and makes recommendations on their website.

    Image via ThinkStock