Thailand ignores concerns as it prepares to reintroduce commercial surrogacy

The Thai government is scheduled to overhaul the country’s surrogacy laws this month to restart the practice of commercial surrogacy after it was banned a decade ago. This has sparked worries about potential human rights abuses such as the commodification of children and women.

Key Takeaways:

• The Thai government plans to update the nation’s surrogacy laws and restart the practice of commercial surrogacy, which was banned a decade ago.

• Previously, Thailand only allowed surrogacy when the surrogate was a relative of one of the intended parents.

• All legally married couples, regardless of gender and country of citizenship, would be eligible to seek surrogacy.

The Details:

Thailand is poised to update its surrogacy laws this month in response to the “Marriage Equality” law enacted in January this year, on the pretext of widening access to assisted reproductive technologies.

Prior to the January announcement by the Thai government regarding the impending revisions to the country’s surrogacy laws, Thailand’s legal landscape only permitted surrogacy in select instances. According to the Protection of Children Born Through Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act B.E. 2558 (2015), surrogacy was restricted to legally married heterosexual couples, and the surrogate had to be a blood relative.

Commercial advertising for surrogate mothers was strictly banned to pre-empt trafficking as well as the exploitation of Thai surrogate mothers and dubious child custody arrangements with foreign clients. 

READ: Surrogacy agency labeled ‘national security threat’

In light of impending revisions to surrogacy legislation, all legally married couples — regardless of gender and country of citizenship — would be eligible to seek surrogacy.

Strikingly, the revised law substitutes gendered terms like “husband” and “wife” with more neutral terms like “spouses” to be in sync with the country’s “Marriage Equality” Act. Hence, same-sex couples who are legally married in Thailand can now qualify to hire a surrogate.

Previously, only Thai nationals or foreigners married to Thai citizens had access to surrogacy; the new law permits foreign couples to seek surrogacy in Thailand, as long as at least one partner has the same nationality as the surrogate or if there is a pre-existing personal connection. 

The revised law will also allow the export of embryos, sperm, or eggs back to the foreign couple’s home country based on conditions stipulated by a special committee on the Protection of Children Born Using Medical Assisted Reproductive Technology under the Surrogacy Act.

Despite legitimate worries about the risks surrogacy poses, Dr Panuwat Panket, director-general of the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS), alleged that the amended bill would lead to more transparency and accountability.

Harsher penalties will be meted out regarding violations associated with illegal surrogacy activities or human trafficking, including more prison sentences and higher fines, as well as how offences committed overseas will be treated as if they were perpetuated in Thailand.

The Bottom Line:

Although pro-surrogacy advocates and their mainstream media mouthpieces have sought to glamorize Thailand’s upcoming revisions to its surrogacy laws, claiming that the country is one step ahead in the direction of “ethical surrogacy,” nothing can change the reality that the very practice of surrogacy in and of itself poses numerous ethical, legal, and moral challenges to the dignity and sanctity of each human life from fertilization. 

Surrogacy reduces mothers and children to commodities. Commercial surrogacy — where money or goods are exchanged — leads to what critics call “womb renting” or the regarding of women as “machines” whose ability to carry preborn children is for sale. Even in so-called “altruistic surrogacy,” surrogate mothers are susceptible to considerable health risks in view of the invasive surgical procedures involved in surrogacy.

The process of surrogacy may also involve abortion through sex selection and selective reduction of embryos regarded as “unfit.” Meanwhile, surrogate children may be regarded as “products” that were purchased and delivered. 

Surrogacy separates the conception of a new human life from the conjugal act and involves “third parties” like egg donors, surrogate mothers, and medical staff. Such a situation blurs the boundaries of parental responsibility and often leaves surrogate children feeling like commodities.

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