For everyone who looks forward to a surrogacy program in Thailand, it’s highly essential to get a sneak peek into the legal framework and associated costs first. So, if you are one amongst the list, we got something really important to share with you in the same regards.
Is surrogacy legal in Thailand?
Thailand used to be the most preferred destination for numerous intended parents around the world but the same has been banned as per the recent ruling by the Thai government. Surrogacy stands illegal for all the International parents in Thailand as per the federal law passed in the year 2015. On the other side, surrogacy is only permitted to married heterosexual that couples in the country via surrogacy agencies in Thailand.
There’s a clause in the same ruling that demands at least one of the spouses be a Thai national along with the fact that both of them must be married for at least 3 years. On the other side, single and homosexual parents of any gender, community, or nationality are completely banned from pursuing surrogacy in Bangkok. That further means that no gay surrogacy Thailand is allowed.
What was the main reason behind the banning of surrogacy in Thailand?
It was mainly in the wake of two unfortunate incidents way back in the year 2014 that led to the banning of surrogacy by the military government in Thailand. The biggest one of the two controversies was the ‘ Baby Gammy case’.
It all started when an Australian couple came to the country to pursue surrogacy with the help of the Thailand surrogacy clinic and got twins out of a surrogate mother in the process. However, the couples returned to their country with just one child while leaving the other one with the surrogate mother.
Eventually, it was been found that the other child left with the surrogate mother was found to be diagnosed with Down syndrome. Now, this is where the surrogate mother decided to apply for the parental custody of the other child in the court.
On the other side, the Australian couples said that they were only been informed about the one-child by the surrogacy agency they dealt with. Now the request raised by the surrogate mother for the custody of the other child was denied by the court after checking through the agreement made between the surrogacy agency and the Australian couples.
However, it was been later found that the couple was involved in numerous child trafficking cases and the man was also got imprisoned in his country for the same reasons.
Once this came to the limelight and notice of the Thai government, they immediately passed a ruling banning all kinds of surrogacy services Thailand for the International parents.
Conclusion
To this date, efforts are in line to re-establish a legal framework for surrogacy process while taking off the same ban on surrogacy. Still, the international parents have to wait for some more time in order to realize their parenthood dreams via surrogacy in Thailand.
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