Thailand plans to revive its commercial surrogacy trade after banning the practice nearly a decade ago after a series of scandals that have reignited concerns about human trafficking of babies and the women who are hired to bear them.
“There are a lot of concerns,” said Sunwanee Dolah, who advises local groups on human trafficking and women’s rights issues.
“Perhaps many people will [victims of] If commercial surrogacy is legalized, it will be forced to provide services,” she told VOA.
Sura Visetsak, head of the health services support unit at the Ministry of Public Health, announced earlier this month plans to draft legislation to legalize commercial surrogacy for local and foreign couples, a move aimed at turning the country around. One of a package of reforms to address the declining birth rate.
Reuters reports that the ministry plans to submit a bill to the Thai cabinet this month. If approved by the Cabinet, the bill will be submitted to the National Assembly for a vote.
If passed, the bill would overturn a ban on commercial surrogacy imposed in 2015 following a controversial case.
In 2014, an Australian couple was accused of abandoning a baby boy after learning he had Down syndrome and leaving him with a surrogate mother in Thailand. In the same year, Thai police uncovered a case in which a Japanese man gave birth to 13 children with several Thai surrogate mothers. Although police initially suspected the man was involved in a baby trafficking scheme, a Thai court ultimately rejected the idea and granted him custody of the child.
Under current regulations, only opposite-sex couples where at least one partner is Thai can seek surrogacy services in Thailand. The surrogate mother must also be Thai and related to the husband or wife, and is prohibited from charging fees for her services.
The Department of Public Health declined VOA’s request for comment or an interview on its plans to lift restrictions.
First, do no harm
Sanphasit Koompraphant, who has advised governments and outside groups on anti-trafficking strategies, said he was concerned that the move, driven by medical professionals hoping to make money through surrogacy, would drain that pool. The country’s health care system consists of doctors and other personnel. Limited resources require more elsewhere.
“us [will] “Thailand must shift doctors from health care services to surrogacy,” Sampasit, former president of the Thai Anti-Human Trafficking Alliance, told VOA.
“This means that many people who are poorer or of lower economic status than those who hire doctors to carry surrogates will not have access to any good… medical care,” he said.
Sampasit said he was concerned that legalizing commercial surrogacy would also lead to an expansion of services that would be difficult for authorities to regulate, leaving it vulnerable to abuse, including more human trafficking.
In a larger, legal surrogacy market, illegal practices may be more easily hidden among legal ones, he said.
“Now they can do [surrogacy] Already, but it’s hard to do because we have a little bit of control. …but if you open [the service] Commercialization, you can’t control it [it so] It’s easy,” Sampasit said.
Others welcomed the government’s plans.
Maya Lindstrum-Newman, policy director for the Bangkok-based Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women, said trafficking risks posed by commercial surrogacy are often exaggerated.
She said while there were risks, they were more significant than human trafficking from more common forms of forced labor and could be a distraction.
Lindstrum-Newman said criminalizing commercial surrogacy, as Thailand did in 2015, did not stop the practice but drove it underground, leaving the women and babies involved More dangerous.
By criminalizing surrogacy, she said, surrogate mothers are much less likely to get valuable legal or medical advice or to seek help from the police if they get into trouble.
“So by decriminalizing it, they will be freer to report exploitation and receive assistance, and exploitation will be less likely to occur because they will be better able to seek advice from lawyers or other people who can help. Practical advice,” she told VOA.
Practices and Principles
Sunwanee said she agreed with this in principle but had big doubts about putting it into practice in Thailand.
“It would actually be a good thing to legalize commercial surrogacy because if such a service [is] What will actually happen in Thailand…the rights of all parties should be protected,” she said. “But what I remain highly concerned about is a real understanding of the trafficking issues for those who have been trafficked [proposing] law. “
Sunwanee said that while the Ministry of Public Health is drafting the bill, issues of human trafficking and women’s rights are usually the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, “in Thailand… [authorities] People from different departments cannot work together even under the same ministry, let alone across ministries. “
Like Sampasit, she questions the ability of Thailand’s overextended regulators and law enforcement agencies to avoid or stamp out abuses in the growing commercial surrogacy market following legalization.
Sunwanee urged the government to set clear rules for hospitals and clinics licensed for surrogacy services, develop a solid and standardized contract for couples and surrogate mothers to sign, and proactively follow up after the baby is born.
Sampasit said Thailand should also sign the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children, which would help authorities deal with issues that may arise for overseas couples.
Lindstrum-Newman said that in the long term, Thailand should continue working to improve protections and earning power for women’s overall choices so they don’t turn to surrogacy out of desperation.
“So if they choose to engage in commercial surrogacy,” she said, “they are making that choice freely, and they are able to choose commercial surrogacy from a range of … other types of decent work opportunities.”
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