The baby Gammy surrogacy story has flared again with new allegations surrounding the infant’s biological father.

It has now been claimed that David Farnell initially requested that Gammy be aborted when it was discovered the baby had Down’s syndrome and later, after the child’s birth, he suggested it be dumped at a Thai temple.

This alleged blatant disregard for human life is abhorrent to us all but it also again exposes major problems in current surrogacy laws.

For instance, is it ok for Australian parents to use overseas women to carry and birth their babies?

As a society, are we comfortable with commercial surrogacy?

And what happens in the unfortunate situation of a baby being born with a disability?

These are big ethical questions and, so far, the law is not moving quickly enough to provide the answers.

Here in South Australia, altruistic surrogacy is permitted but money must not change hands. There is also no provision for same sex couples and single mothers who want to become parents.

The law of course must always reflect the views of its community and maybe it is time we overhaul the current legislation to prevent any more heartbreaking stories like that of baby Gammy.