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Commercial surrogacy, a situation where a woman is paid to get pregnant and giving birth to a baby for the couple in need of a child, has been banned in Thailand.
The bill was passed by the country’s National Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
An official report on Friday in Bangkok revealed that the new law also prohibits non-Thai couples and all same-sex couples from accessing any surrogacy services in the Kingdom.
Under the new law, only married heterosexual couples with at least one Thai partner can use surrogates, adding that it must be free service.
The law’s non-existence had hitherto made the country a destination for foreign couples seeking surrogate mothers.
The country re-examined the laws following a public outcry in 2014 when a surrogate baby with Down’s syndrome was left with his surrogate mother by an Australian couple who took the girl’s brother.