35 couples used surrogates since new law in place

SOME Thai 35 couples used surrogates to get children - including three Thai women married to spouses from Britain, Russia and France - after a new law was passed in Thailand a year ago to curb abuses in such procedures.

Head of the Public Health Ministry's Health Service Support Department Boonreung Traireung-worawat said his agency had teamed up with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security to set up a system to check on children born via surrogates living in or outside Thailand until they turn 18. 

This was to prevent them from falling victims to human trafficking and the illegal trade in organs.

Boonreung and the deputy chief of the Department of Children and Youth, Supatcha Suttipol, signed a formal deal last Thursday to cooperate and protect such children. The ceremony, witnessed by Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, was held in Bangkok during the third Symposium on Consumer Protection in the National Health Service System.

As part of the system to protect such children, to keep them safe and ensure they are raised amid family warmth, officials...