Surrogate Targeted After Backing Out

A surrogate mother who had second thoughts appealed for help from authorities after becoming the target of threats and intimidation by the surrogacy clinic and police working for them.

The 35-year-old woman, identified only as Orn, and her 50-year-old husband sought protection from the Paveena Foundation for Children and Women after being pursued around the country following her decision to back out of her surrogacy contract.

Orn said she was offered 350,000 baht for her service by the unnamed clinic - run by a foreigner named Victor and a Chinese man - who told her the transaction was legal, but nonetheless asked her to keep it secret. They also suggested she stay with them, but she refused, saying she had to care for her son.

Under the contract, Orn would be paid 15,000 baht a month and 230,000 baht upon delivery.

Insemination took place in April, but after a pair of much-publicized media reports about questionable surrogacy practices sparked a government crackdown in August, she told the agency she wanted to scrap the deal and raise the child herself.

It...