At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 last Sun, Jan 1, Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel stopped a “recruiter” named Jeanette Reyes and four women, who admitted to agreeing to be “surrogate mothers for hire.”
“The women said they were promised US$8,700 (PHP426,300) each to carry to term and give birth to a baby fathered by a German, a Nigerian, an Australian, and a Chinese,” report Evelyn Macairan and Rudy Santos in The Philippine Star.
The report further noted: “The women added that they would be given US$200 (around PHP9,953) after the first insemination of the foreigner’s sperm and US$500 (around PHP24,882) would be added upon confirmation of the unborn child’s heartbeat. The rest of the money would be paid in monthly installments during their pregnancy and until the baby is delivered and sent to its father.”
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente was quoted as saying, “This is a new modus operandi of a human trafficking syndicate that preys on our Filipino women, who are enticed to bear the children of strangers for a fee because of their poverty. We cannot allow this to happen.”
Reyes and the women were about to board a flight for Bangkok when they were intercepted.
Once in Bangkok, the group’s plan was to Phnom Penh, where allegedly a Cambodian who arranged the deal with the foreigners would fetch them.
The women claimed that another batch of would-be surrogate mothers were scheduled to go through NAIA at an undisclosed date. This prompted the BI to issue an alert order.
