Yahoo – AFP,
23 Aug 2014
Thailand's junta has pledged leniency in the cases of babies born to surrogate mothers, as it looks to toughen rules in the lucrative but largely unregulated industry following a series of scandals.
Closed
doors of the New Life IVF clinic in Bangkok, on August 15, 2014
(AFP
Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)
|
Thailand's junta has pledged leniency in the cases of babies born to surrogate mothers, as it looks to toughen rules in the lucrative but largely unregulated industry following a series of scandals.
Dozens,
possibly hundreds, of foreign couples are thought to have been left in limbo
after entering into surrogacy arrangements through clinics in the kingdom.
Army chief
General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who seized power in a coup three months ago, said in
his weekly televised address late Friday that the military rulers would move
quickly to find "sustainable solutions".
Surrogate
mother Pattaramon Chanbua (L)
with her baby Gammy, born with Down
Syndrome, at
the Samitivej hospital in
Sriracha district, Chonburi province on
August 4, 2014 (AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)
|
"The
clinics that hired them or asked them to do it have been closed, so it is
dangerous for the babies," added Prayut, who was on Thursday picked as
prime minister by the new junta-appointed legislature.
"I
have already ordered leniency on a case-by-case basis."
Commercial
surrogacy is officially banned by Thailand's Medical Council, but until
recently even top fertility clinics were believed to offer the service.
The junta
has vowed to introduce a new law that could result in 10 years' imprisonment
for anyone found guilty of involvement in the trade.
In the past
few weeks a number of fertility clinics have been raided and some have been
closed down.
Thailand's
murky surrogacy industry has come under intense scrutiny following recent
accusations that an Australian couple abandoned a baby born with Down's
syndrome, but took his healthy twin sister.
The couple
have denied deliberately leaving the boy, called Gammy, with the surrogate
mother, who was paid around $15,000 to carry the twins.
In a
separate case, police believe a Japanese man fathered at least 15 babies with
surrogate mothers for unknown motives.
Earlier
this month, a gay Australian couple were stopped from leaving Thailand with a
baby because they had incomplete documents.
Thai
immigration officials say they cannot disclose how many couples have been
prevented from leaving Thailand with babies born to surrogates because they do
not keep records.
The support
group Surrogacy Australia says it knows of 100 couples who are currently going
through the process in the kingdom, which has long strived to be a hub of
medical tourism.
Australia
has asked Thailand to make "transitional arrangements" to help its
citizens who have already entered into surrogacy arrangements.
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