Surrogacy arrangements suspected of being used for stem cells

News Desk

The Nation

Publication Date : 07-08-2014

Thai police probing case involving nine babies found in a condo

Following much-publicised case of the unauthorised surrogacy involving a Thai mother and an Australian couple, a raid by Thai police and soldiers at a Bangkok condominium found nine babies thought to have been fathered by a Japanese man.

Former Thai Social Development and Human Security Minister Paveen Hongsakul, who initiated the raid on Tuesday on Soi Lat Phrao 130, feared that in the worst-case scenario, this "surrogacy-for-hire" scam may be related to the potentially fatal extraction of foetal fluid to provide stem cells.

She also called on authorities to investigate a case involving a woman who said she was paid for surrogate pregnancy, but lost the baby seven months into her pregnancy. Pavena wants investigators to find out if the foetus's spinal fluid was extracted for use in stem cell treatments.

As for the nine babies found in the Lat Phrao condo, Pavena said most of them looked Caucasian, while only one had Asian features. The infants were between 15 and 50 days old.

Read the original here:
Surrogacy arrangements suspected of being used for stem cells