Thailand bans commercial surrogacy after series of scandals
PUBLISHED : Friday, 20 February, 2015, 4:18pm
UPDATED : Friday, 20 February, 2015, 4:18pm
Associated Press in Bangkok
Thai surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua, a 21-year-old food vendor, poses with Gammy, who was born with Down's syndrome. Photo: AP
Thailand’s military-picked legislature has passed a law that bans foreigners from using Thai surrogate mothers and bans all commercial surrogacy after a string of scandals last year, a lawmaker said on Friday.
However, couples in which at least one partner is Thai may still seek out non-commercial surrogacy.
The law aims to stop Thailand from being a surrogacy hub for foreign couples, or from becoming “the wombs of the world,” National Legislative Assembly member Wanlop Tangkananurak said yesterday.
Thailand gave preliminary approval in August for a draft law to make commercial surrogacy a crime. The draft passed its first reading in November and became law on Thursday.
Thailand was rocked by several surrogacy scandals last year. One involved an Australian couple whose surrogate had twins - but the Australians abandoned one of them, called Gammy, who had Down’s syndrome. It later emerged that the father was a convicted paedophile.
The other case involved a Japanese man who fathered at least 16 babies via Thai surrogates in a case that local media dubbed “the baby factory”.
Previously, the Southeast Asia nation was one of the few countries in Asia where commercial surrogacy was not specifically banned by law, although the medical council of Thailand has a regulation stating that doctors risked losing their licence if they helped perform surrogacy services for pay.
Nevertheless, Thailand became a go-to surrogacy destination for couples from Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan and a low-cost alternative to the United States.
“Surrogacy business leaves too much long-term trouble for Thailand, so we are banning foreign couples from seeking surrogacy in our country to avoid being a hub and to prevent what we saw last year,” Wanlop said.
The parliament voted 160 to 2 to pass the law on Thursday night.
Under the new law, a Thai couple is allowed to seek a surrogate to carry the fetus only if they are able to prove that they and their relatives are infertile. A couple with one Thai spouse seeking surrogacy must be married for at least three years.
The law stipulates that surrogate mothers must be Thai and over 25.
“The important part is if the couple seeking surrogacy services is Thai or the couple is mixed-race, they can find a Thai woman to be their surrogate providing she is over 25,” Wanlop said, adding that violation of the law carries a “severe prison sentence”.
Anyone involved in commercial surrogacy will face a maximum jail term of 10 years and a maximum fine of 200,000 baht (HK$48,000).
Critics say making commercial surrogacy illegal could push the industry underground, making it harder for patients to access quality physicians and medical care.
Additional reporting by Reuters
