Thai authorities to speed up solving surrogacy cases

BANGKOK, August 12 (TNA) – In a high-level meeting on Tuesday, Thailand’s deputy national police chief Police General Aek Angsananont urged for speedy investigation of surrogacy cases, including legal action to be taken on Wednesday against the owner of a surrogacy clinic on Witthayu Road for doing unauthorized business and violating medical profession conduct. Under relevant laws, wrongdoers would be liable to a jail term of one year and/or a fine of 20,000 baht. Among other surrogacy cases, police were also urged to finish probing the incident involving 24-year-old Japanese Shigeta Mitsutoki who claimed to be the biological father of 15 surrogacy children found to be recorded at a surrogacy clinic in Bangkok. These developments follow reports that an Australian couple, David and Wendy Farnell, left their twin male baby with Down's syndrome with a surrogate Thai mother aged 21 and brought home only the other twin sister. The couple later denied the reports. (TNA)