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September 3, 2014

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Thai-born twins’ abuse reignites surrogacy debate

Source: AP | September 3, 2014, Wednesday | Print Edition

AN Australian man has been charged with sexually abusing twin girls he fathered several years ago to a Thai surrogate mother in another case that casts a harsh light on Thailand’s beleaguered surrogacy industry.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was charged in a New South Wales state court last year with committing acts of indecency with a victim under 10 years old, court documents showed yesterday. The girls were around 4 and 5 years old, Nine Network television reported.

The charges are the latest blow to the credibility of the commercial surrogacy industry in Thailand, which the Southeast Asian country has vowed to shut down.

Court documents show that the father, who is in his 50s, has also been charged with possessing child pornography materials that were found in a raid on his home, Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.

The man, who denies the allegations, will go on trial in the coastal city of Gosford on December 8, documents show.

The twins were born about seven years ago to a 23-year-old Thai surrogate mother, Siriwan Nitichad, also known as Aon, from Petchabun province. Aon agreed to act as a surrogate for a couple from Australia who could not conceive on their own, ABC reported. “They said they were just married and they really wanted to have a baby so much,” Aon told ABC.

Aon agreed to use her own eggs with the Australian man’s sperm. She said she was paid 170,000 baht (US$5,300).

She said the twins were born with lung and other health problems. They were 4 or 5 months old when she handed them over to the Australian couple.

“They were so lovely, I wanted them to stay with me, I did not want to let them go,” Aon said.

Court documents show that the father became unemployed, allegedly had a violent temper and the marriage broke down, ABC reported.

The children are now in the care of the ex-wife of the accused man, and Australian child welfare authorities are working on plans for their care.

Ilya Smirnoff, executive director of Childline Thailand Foundation, a child welfare organization, said yesterday that Australian officials had considered sending the twins back to Thailand to live with their biological mother after their father was charged.

But Australia’s Family Court issued an order last year on the girls’ long-term care, he said.

Thai authorities have been cracking down on the largely unregulated surrogacy industry since recent publicity over claims that an Australian couple had abandoned a baby boy born to a surrogate Thai mother after learning he had Down syndrome.

The couple, who took the boy’s healthy twin sister home, has said they also wanted the boy and the Thai surrogate has acknowledged she kept him because she feared he would end up in a state institution.

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