Thai authorities urged to pass law to control surrogacy

BANGKOK, August 19 (TNA) - Many parties have called for Thai authorities to quickly pass a law to control surrogacy in order to prevent Thailand from becoming a hub of commercial surrogacy. The call was made at a public discussion on surrogacy and rights, organized by the human rights communication sub-committee, under the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), held in Bangkok on Tuesday, during which participants expressed their concerns over Thailand's lack of a particular law to control surrogacy. Professor Emeritus Dr. Pramual Weerutamasen, a gynecologist and specialist on reproductive technology, suggested that Thailand quickly pass a law to protect babies born with reproductive technology, and that doctors' ethics play important roles in solving problems relating to surrogacy. Suchada Thaweesit, a lecturer of the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, said that surrogacy used to be a positive issue, but it has later turned out to involve right infringements. Suchada acknowledged that India, Ukraine and Russia have legalized commercial surrogacy, while Japan has banned it, prompting clients to look for surrogates in developing countries. Suchada pointed out that India is the biggest source of surrogacy, while Thailand may become a hub of commercial surrogacy in the future. Sapasit Khumpraphan, an NHRC expert, recommended that, in principle, a surrogacy law comply with morality, natural law and fairness, as well as respect sperm and egg owners, surrogates and babies. Meanwhile, the owner of All IVF Clinic, Dr. Phisit Tantiwattnakul, has been summoned to report himself to police at Bangkok's Lumpini Police Station by noon on August 22 for alllegedly involving in a surrogacy case in which nine babies were born to nine surrogate mothers recently discovered at a condominium in the capital's Lat Phrao area, as petitioned by the Thai Ministry of Public Health's Department of Health Service Support on August 15. Colonel Decha Promsuwan, an investigative expert at Lumpini Police Station, told reporters that the owner of the gynecological clinic will be charged with violating the Sanatorium Act and failing to use his medical practitioner license in accordance with the law, which, if found guilty, he will be fined or imprisoned, or both.(TNA)