Eight Jailed for Illegal Commercial Surrogacy Network in Thailand

The Criminal Court has sentenced four obstetricians and four brokers to prison terms of up to 15 years for their roles in a transnational commercial surrogacy network, ruling that they treated human bodies as commodities and deliberately circumvented the law. The Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road on Thursday delivered its verdict in the second case arising from a cross-border commercial surrogacy operation. Prosecutors charged 10 defendants, including Lt Col Dr Chanin Asawataret, with participating in a transnational criminal organisation, arranging commercial surrogacy, and illegally importing or exporting embryos, sperm and human eggs. The case stemmed from a 2020 investigation by the Anti-Human Trafficking Division, which dismantled a surrogacy network allegedly financed by Chinese national Ran Zhao. The syndicate recruited Thai women to become surrogate mothers or sell their eggs for in-vitro fertilisation. Investigators said the women were paid 400,000-450,000 baht each and taken to Laos and Cambodia for embryo implantation to circumvent Thailand's ban on commercial surrogacy. They then returned to Thailand for prenatal care before travelling to China shortly before giving birth. According to investigators, Dr Chanin played a key role by preparing sperm samples and performing embryo implantation procedures. Police also arrested a Thai female broker who handled financial transactions, tracing more than 70 international money transfers linked to the network. In its ruling, the court said the four obstetricians and gynaecologists knew commercial surrogacy and the sale of human eggs violated both the law and medical ethics, yet deliberately carried out the procedures abroad to evade Thai law. The court also found that the four brokers played key roles in the operation, harming the rights and welfare of children born through the scheme by separating them from their biological families and exposing them to potential long-term psychological harm. The court convicted the doctors and brokers on multiple counts. Although it reduced their sentences by one-quarter because they cooperated, it imposed lengthy prison terms because of the seriousness of the offences. Dr Chanin, whom the court identified as the ringleader among the medical professionals, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The other three doctors received sentences of 13 years, 13 years and six months, and 10 years and six months. The four brokers received prison terms of 13 years and six months, 10 years and six months, seven years and six months, and four years and six months. The court acquitted two other defendants. The case is separate from the prosecution of Ran Zhao and three associates, who pleaded guilty to operating the surrogacy ring. They were each sentenced to 150 years in prison, later reduced to 75 years because of their guilty pleas.