A Thai court has agreed to return three of 12 babies under state care to the eccentric, Japanese “super dad” who went on an insemination spree last year.
The Central Juvenile and Family Court agreed to grant custody of three babies born to Thai surrogate mothers to Mitsutoki Shigeta, the 24-year-old scion of a Japanese telecom billionaire, who abandoned them and fled the country when police raided his baby storage facility.
Shigeta is believed to have paid to father upward of 15 or more babies with surrogate mothers around the world, mostly in Thailand. His motivations have remained unclear; Shigeta himself has given many reasons including wanting to create an army of voters to elect him into public office as well as wanting to make them all rich when he dies.
The fate of the other nine babies remains undecided, according to Bangkok Post.
Shigeta recently filed suit to recover the babies after they were discovered inside a Lat Phrao condominium this past August. Six of the surrogate moms also sued the state to get their babies back.
The discovery came days after an Australian couple’s decision to leave behind a surrogate baby born with Down syndrome kicked off a national debate over commercial surrogacy.
The rubber-stamp legislature has moved to drastically limit commercial surrogacy only to legally married Thai parents.
Photo: Immigration Bureau
Related:
Surrogate moms sue to recover their many, many babies
Japanese super-dad sues to recover his many, many babies
Japanese super-dad will return for his babies
Thai surrogate mother details strange encounter with Mitsutoki Shigeta
Police threaten ‘baby factory’ doc with arrest
Illegal IVF clinic in Sathorn shut down, new surrogacy law awaits approval
Send in the clones: Japanese businessman linked to baby mill said to want 1,000 children
Babies everywhere: Japanese businessman also put his seed in Indian, Ukrainian women
Sayonara! Japanese dad of nine surrogate babies flees Thailand
