Thread: Japanese businessman fathered 13 surrogate babies in Thailand

Police say they have found a total of 13 babies linked to a Japanese man embroiled in another surrogacy scandal in Thailand.

Bangkok police raided an apartment earlier this week, finding nine surrogate babies, their nannies and a pregnant surrogate mother.

On Friday, police found four more babies they believe are connected to the businessman, but did not give details about their health or say where they were found.

"He is the father of 13 surrogate babies and has been travelling in and out of Bangkok many times," Police Colonel Napunwut Liamsanguan told Reuters, referring to the unidentified Japanese man.

Colonel Liamsanguan said police raided a clinic in Bangkok on Friday, believed to have been used for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for the 13 surrogate babies after being tipped off by one of the surrogate mothers.

Are surrogacy laws to blame?



Parents who have had children through surrogates in Australia say the thriving overseas surrogacy market is being fuelled by messy Australian laws.

The clinic raided on Friday had a licence to perform IVF for surrogacy purposes but police said they suspected it had violated the code of conduct.
Police said the clinic had been vacated and no documents had been left behind.

The clinic's head doctor could face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to 20,000 baht ($671), if found guilty.

The unidentified doctor owns another clinic that was also raided by police on Friday.

If it is found to have no medical licence to perform surrogacy, he faces an additional three years in prison and a fine of up to $2,016.

Surrogacy scandals shine spotlight on Thailand

Surrogacy scandals have gripped Thailand this week after an international outcry over baby Gammy, who was left with his Thai birth mother when his Australian biological parents took his twin sister back to Australia.

West Australian couple David and Wendy Farnell, who have come under heavy criticism for apparently rejecting the boy with Down syndrome, have remained silent but will give an exclusive TV interview to Channel Nine's 60 Minutes on Sunday.

Gammy, now seven months old, is being treated for a lung infection in hospital but is expected to be released from hospital in the days ahead.



Photo: Baby Gammy's biological parents, West Australian David John Farnell and his wife, say they will tell their side of the story. (The South Western times)

The scandals have shone an international spotlight on Thailand's largely unregulated surrogacy business, prompting authorities to crack down on clinics with nationwide inspections.

Commercial surrogacy is barred by the Medical Council of Thailand's code of conduct.

Surrogacy for no financial gain is permitted for blood relatives of a couple and exceptions are allowed on a case-by-case basis.

Thailand's ruling military will move as early as next week to introduce new laws which will ban commercial surrogacy.

The draft law would ban commercial surrogacy and those found to have violated the law could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 200,000 baht ($6,710).

Thailand has 45 licensed surrogacy clinics, 12 of them in Bangkok, according to the Ministry of Public Health, and 240 people have a medical licence to perform in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for surrogacy.

Japanese businessman fathered 13 surrogate babies in Thailand: police - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Originally Posted by Looper

in and out of Bangkok many times

damn straight he did!

Japanese ‘baby factory’ dad, who may have fathered dozens with surrogates, lays claim to his offspring in Thai court


Billionaire’s son Mitsutoki Shigeta, who was living in Hong Kong when news of his unusual surrogacy project broke, says he wanted to have dozens of babies to inherit his family fortune


A Japanese man who fathered at least 15 babies using Thai surrogate mothers appeared in a Thai court via video conference Tuesday, testifying in a case in which he is suing for paternal rights.


Mitsutoki Shigeta’s lawyer said that Bangkok’s Central Juvenile Court, where the “baby factory” case that has drawn wide attention is being heard, will issue its ruling on February 20.


Shigeta, the reputed son of a billionaire, was living in Hong Kong when news of his unusual surrogacy project broke in 2014.


The 28-year-old man, currently living in Japan from where he testified, reportedly hired many Thai women to bear his children in 2014.


The babies are being cared for under the watch of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security until the case reaches its conclusion.




It is not clear how many there are, with some reports saying dozens. Thai police say DNA tests have confirmed he fathered at least 15.

The lawyer said his client wanted to have dozens of babies because he desired a large family and hoped they would inherit his family fortune.


Shigeta, who is believed to be the son of the multibillionaire owner of one of Japan’s biggest telecommunications companies, may have fathered more children in other countries around the world where the laws on surrogacy are not strict.


In 2014, reports emerged that he had also travelled to India and Ukraine to have children.


At Tuesday’s hearing, Thailand’s Social Development and Human Security Ministry personnel took turns testifying in court.


One of them said they went to Cambodia and Japan to visit places where the man intends to have his kids raised and “everything looks good.”


According to local media, the Japanese man and some Thai surrogate women initiated a lawsuit against the ministry in January 2015, alleging that it violated their rights.





Previously, surrogacy was not strictly regulated in Thailand, and many foreigners turned to it for surrogates, drawn by both the relatively cheap cost and high-quality health care available in the country.


But it became a hot issue in Thailand following a string of scandals, including the one involving the Japanese man and another involving an Australian couple who abandoned a surrogate-born baby with Down’s syndrome and just took home his healthy twin sister.


In 2015, the law was changed to ban commercial surrogacy.


Now only couples with at least one Thai partner can access the country’s surrogacy services and, in the case of marriages between people of mixed nationalities, they must have been legally married for at least three years.


The surrogate mother must be a Thai citizen over the age of 25 who is preferably a blood relative but is neither a parent nor a daughter of the couple. She must have given birth before and she cannot receive any direct fees for being a surrogate.

Japanese ?baby factory? dad, who may have fathered dozens with surrogates, lays claim to his offspring in Thai court | South China Morning Post