Australian Families in Limbo as Nepal Joins India and Thailand in Banning Commercial Surrogacy

The future of dozens of families has been thrown into limbo after Nepal followed India and Thailand and announced a crackdown on the commercial surrogacy market.

The Supreme Court of Nepal has issued an interim order putting immediate stop to commercial surrogacy services in the country.

Surrogacy Australia founder Sam Everingham said between 60 and 80 desperate Australian couples currently have Nepalese surrogates pregnant with their children.

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said the decision means the status of those existing surrogacy arrangements is now unclear.

“The Australian Government strongly recommends that commissioning parents not consider surrogacy in Nepal,” the Department said in an updated travel advisory.

Mr Everingham said his organisation has been assured the 70 or so Australian couples who are expecting to have babies born in Nepal over the coming months will be able to get their children home.

But he said the changes could mean couples are delayed by as long as six weeks in Nepal as they battle to get exit visas for their newborn babies.

Mr Everingham said the...