Thailand Surrogacy Baby Factory: Harvest of Stem-Cells for Cosmetics “Worst Case Scenario”

After a police raid in Lat Phrao revealed at least nine surrogacy babies fathered by the same man, some officials fear stem cell production as one possibility of the “surrogacy baby factory”, reports The Nation.

The babies were found in a condo in early August along with seven nannies and a woman who was seven months pregnant with another surrogate baby. Shortly after the raid, a lawyer contacted authorities claiming his client, a wealthy Japanese businessman, was the father of the children, ages two weeks to two years.

According to The Nation, Dr. Somboon Kunathikom, a former chairman of the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said “the latest discovery was suspicious because usually children borne through surrogacy are adopted almost immediately by couples who foot the hospital bills.”

Paveen Hongsakul, the former minister of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, said, according to The Nation, the worst-case scenario would be if the embryonic spinal fluid was being extracted to harvest stem cells—which is a potentially fatal procedure.

The Nation reports that Hongsakul also called for an investigation to find out if a baby allegedly lost seven months into a separate surrogacy pregnancy was used for the manufacture of cosmetics from fetal spinal fluid.

Read the full story here.

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