New Thai law bans surrogacy for foreigners

Thailand's interim parliament has passed a law that bans foreigners from seeking surrogacy services to end a "rent-a-womb" industry that made the Southeast Asian country a top destination for fertility tourism.

Thailand was rocked by several surrogacy scandals last year and an outcry followed the case of an Australian couple — one of whom is a convicted child sex offender — who left a male twin surrogate baby with Down Syndrome in Thailand, bringing only his sister back to Australia. The couple at the center of the story of "Baby Gammy," and the surrogate mother told conflicting stories of how the infant came to be left behind.

Another case involved a Japanese man who fathered at least at least 16 babies using Thai surrogates in what local Thai media called the "baby factory".

Thailand gave preliminary approval in August for a draft law to make commercial surrogacy a crime. The draft passed its first reading in November and became law on Thursday.

The law bans foreign couples from seeking surrogacy services and stipulates that surrogate mothers must be Thai and over 25. Violation of the law carries a prison sentence. 

Critics say making commercial surrogacy illegal could push the industry underground, making it harder for patients to access quality physicians and medical care.

Thailand, which had relatively lax regulations covering surrogacy until the scandals erupted, was a popular destination for parents from developed countries such as Australia and Japan who are looking for affordable surrogate mothers. Another popular destination is India.

A full-term surrogate pregnancy in Thailand and India typically costs $63,000 to $72,300. In the U.S. it can run up to $226,000, according to the Hague report.

Experts say the profile of a typical surrogate mother in India and Thailand is an uneducated lower-income woman with a husband and children of her own.