BANGKOK
A Japanese man suspected of fathering at least 14 babies through surrogate mothers in Thailand eventually intended to produce “up to 1,000,” according to a Tokyo newspaper.
The Japan Times reported Saturday that Mitsutoki Shigeta had told the director of a Thailand-based surrogacy agency: “The best thing I can do for the world is to leave many children.”
New Life Global Network Director Mariam Kukunashvili said that the son of a wealthy Japanese business family had then said that he wanted to father “between 100 and 1,000.”
What the 24-year-old wanted to do with the children remains a mystery.
Kukunashvili said that the agency had initially arranged for the surrogate mothers to be inseminated, but when it became clear exactly how many children he intended to create the relationship came to an end.
"We served Shigeta one time only and then he demanded he wanted more and more babies," Kukunashvili told the Bangkok Post. "I immediately found it suspicious, especially for a man of his age, and we refused to further serve him and warned Interpol... and the Japanese embassy."
The story emerged early August with the country awaking to news that an Australian couple had been accused of abandoning a baby boy born with Down syndrome with its surrogate mother.
Thai health authorities - concerned that regulations may be being contravened at the country's surrogacy clinics- launched a series of raids, one follow-up visit to a Bangkok apartment block turning up nine mothers nursing babies the Japanese man was suspected to have fathered, and one pregnant surrogate mother.
On the case being reported, Shigeta fled the Kingdom on a flight to Macau. Police discovered that on an earlier trip, he had taken four children he had fathered through surrogacy to Cambodia.
The Post reported Sunday that Thai Immigration records showed the man had travelled to Thailand 40 times and on some occasions had left the country with children, "apparently those he fathered via surrogate mothers in Thailand."
On Friday, Thai police officials said during a press conference in Bangkok that a man claiming to be an adviser to Shigeta had sent them pictures of the children to illustrate “how well they were being raised.”
They have now invited Shigeta to return to Thailand and explain why he wanted to father so many children and what he planned to do with them.
The new line of a wider investigation into commercial surrogacy in the Kingdom comes as the junta, who seized power on May 22, seeks to introduce a new law to ban commercial surrogacy.
Although any law still needs to be passed by the National Legislative Assembly, four couples from the United States and Australia - including a gay Australian couple - were prevented this week from leaving Thailand with children obtained through surrogacy agreements.
Australian authorities are concerned that more than 200 couples who have signed up to have children in the Kingdom may now be prevented from returning home with them.
Australian Ambassador to Thailand James Wise - after this week raising the issue with Thai foreign ministry officials - underlined that most couples wanting to have babies from surrogate mothers are "good and decent people."
He has asked that a “transitional arrangement” be put in place in order to allow the surrogacies to be completed, and the babies brought to Australia.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
