Despite commercial surrogacy being deemed illegal by Thai courts after complicated high-profile cases such those involving Baby Carmen and Baby Gammy, surrogacy is still legal for domestic couples, though much more strictly regulated than it used to be.
Since the new laws governing the practice went into effect in July of last year, 50 domestic couples have applied and eight have been granted permission. Another 12 cases are scheduled to be decided on this month, according to Department of Health Service Support (HSS) director-general Boonruang Triruangworawat.
Legal surrogacy approval is granted by the Committee for Protection of Surrogate Children, which is chaired by the permanent secretary for health.
The domestic surrogacy program specifies that the surrogate mother must be a blood relative of one member of the couple applying, be between 20 and 40 years old and have had one (but not more than three) natural births already.
The birth mother may also have had only one Caesarean section birth and can only provide the service twice in her life.
The adoptive parents must hold a marriage license registered in Thailand and are responsible for all costs.
For a Thai-foreign couple, they must have got married for at least three years before applying for a surrogacy.
Boonruang said that the purpose of the strict laws is to make the surrogacy process legal and straightforward. The law deems it illegal to sell eggs, sperm or embryos and for surrogates to use Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to determine gender. The laws also outlawed commercial surrogacy, according to Bangkok Post.
Boonruang noted that those found breaking the new laws could be sentenced to 1-10 years in prison and/or a fine of THB20,000-200,000.
It sounds like Thai couples that can’t conceive and don’t have an incredibly generous sister or cousin might be out of luck.
