Gordon Lake and husband Manuel Santos Valero have been in hiding so as not to lose their second child Carmen, the Bangkok Post reports.

Six-month-old Carmen was born in Thailand via a surrogate to the Spanish/American couple. Ten days after her birth, the couple received a message from the surrogate’s translator, saying “something to the extent of ‘I don’t agree, and I want to keep the baby’”.

It remains unclear why the surrogate has not signed over custody of Carmen; she is not the biological mother as it had been a frozen egg transfer. Though remaining anonymous in the media, she has launched a campaign against the couple, accusing them of human trafficking.

Lake and Valero believe that the reason for her change of heart was finding out they were a gay couple. The surrogate did not meet Valero when Lake came to the hospital to bring Carmen home.

The family – including firstborn Álvaro, who was born via a surrogate in India – has been moving apartments every three months. Under Thai law, the birth mother automatically has custody of a child, so Lake and Valero are constantly in fear that the surrogate will find them and take Carmen away.

“I don’t take her [Carmen] to any meetings with me anymore, and every time I have to go to a meeting myself, I take the long way home just to make sure I’m not being followed. We’re really worried,” Lake told the Thai paper.

Lake has created a Fundly page to help raise legal costs to bring Carmen home, as well as a Change.org petition.