Topping the list of desired sperm and egg donors in Thailand are those in the upper strata of society with good looks and education.
In a country where recent surrogacy scandals have gripped headlines, the sale of bodily fluids and products thrives on social media such as Line and Facebook.
“Pretties,” or commercial models, can earn between THB20,000 to 50,000 for their eggs, actresses get between THB80,000 to 100,000, and a former Miss Thailand allegedly earned THB1 million, according to a former “pretty” and current agent in the donor industry, The Nation reported.
The agent said there were approximately 600 women in her donor communities. Such groups regularly change their names in order to avoid being detected.
Despite the hefty payments, they are only a fraction of what clients pay for a surrogacy, which can reach up to THB250,000.
Surrogacy services are popular with gay male couples, as well as other male clients from China and Hong Kong due to the ability for parents to select gender. Many clients from more patriarchal cultures prefer male babies.
The anonymous source believed seven children fathered by a Vietnamese, Hong Kong and Japanese men along with four by Chinese fathers were born from her donated eggs.
She said she stopped donating eggs after learning it could make a woman prematurely infertile.
She was once given a hormone stimulator which caused her to produce 60 eggs instead of the usual one produced each month.
Thailand has drafted laws to strictly limit surrogacy and outlaw any commercial child services. That bill will also prohibit the sale of eggs and sperm.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
