Four couples from the US and Australia have been prevented from leaving Thailand with surrogate babies as part of a government crackdown on the burgeoning commercial surrogacy industry, an Australian broadcaster reported yesterday.
The crackdown follows recent publicity over a Thai surrogate mother who said she was left with a baby rejected by his Australian biological parents after he was born with Down syndrome. The biological parents, who took the boy’s healthy twin sister home, dispute the circumstances in which they abandoned their son.
Two Australian same-sex couples were prevented by Thai officials from leaving the Bangkok airport on Thursday afternoon with babies born to Thai women, Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) reported. One couple had attempted to travel with the Thai surrogate mother in the hope of avoiding a challenge at the immigration desk, ABC said.
Two US couples were prevented from leaving Thailand with babies in similar circumstances since Wednesday, ABC said.
Thai officials told ABC the couples would have to apply for court orders to take the babies from the country, a process that could take months.
Thailand’s immigration police spokesman Colonel Voravat Amornvivat said the Bangkok airport’s immigration departure section had no record of Australian couples with surrogate babies who were barred from leaving Thailand. However, he said that it might be possible that it was not flagged in the system.
“If it did happen, it could be because the couples could not provide sufficient documents to prove that the babies are theirs,” Voravat said. “Under the Thai law, in order to bring an infant out of the country, it has to be proven that the infant is traveling with or accompanied by the parents. And due to the recent surrogacy issue, the authorities are stricter in keeping an eye on those leaving the country.”
Melissa Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Bangkok, said in an e-mail that the embassy was aware of reports that some parents with children born to surrogates have not been permitted to leave Thailand.
Embassy officials were seeking clarification about Thailand’s immigration requirements and talking to Thai government authorities to determine what the ramifications may be for US parents who have already entered into surrogacy agreements in Thailand, she said.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday would not confirm ABC’s report, citing privacy reasons.
“We strongly urge Australians entering Thailand for the purposes of commercial surrogacy to seek independent legal advice in both Thailand and Australia before doing so,” the department said in a statement. “In particular, they should seek advice on the implications of any new exit requirements.”
Scores of Australian biological parents are currently pregnant through surrogates in Thailand.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS