Laos is the next explosion waiting to happen

Laos is the next explosion waiting to happen

In recent days news has come from Thailand that a man was arrested trying to smuggle vials of sperm into Laos. Apparently the export of sperm form Thailand is prohibited without government approval. And the alleged reason he was trying to do this?

Well the obvious one- it was to enable surrogacy to occur in Laos. Apparently this was his 13th trip across. The sperm is said to have come from Chinese and Vietnamese men and donated  in Bangkok.

Laos has no regulations concerning surrogacy. Recently a maternity hospital was built there- organised by Dr Pisit. Quite simply this is a bomb waiting to go off- just as we saw in Thailand, India, Nepal, Cambodia and Mexico.

This is the same Dr Pisit who was at the centre of the Baby Gammy saga- and the same Dr Pisit who helped a Japanese man have between 13 and 16 children through surrogacy. The same Dr Pisit who was charged by Thai authorities, and then apparently the charges were dropped.

As I said in January, if you are thinking of going to Laos for surrogacy- just as people ended up going to Cambodia and then got stuck- don’t. There are other places to undertake surrogacy- lawfully and safely.

Things to Read, Watch & Listen

Australia’s Surrogacy System is Broken — Here’s What Needs to Change

Surrogacy in Australia is at a critical crossroads. Families are increasingly forced to look overseas to start or grow their families, surrogates often find themselves without clear legal protections, and children born through surrogacy face a tangled web of legal uncertainty.

Surrogacy Nightmare: Aussie Couple Referred for Criminal Charges After Overseas Baby Journey

Surrogacy can be a beautiful path to parenthood, but it also comes with intricate legal challenges, especially when undertaken overseas. In a recent and cautionary case from Queensland, Australia, a couple’s journey to parenthood through commercial surrogacy in North Cyprus ended not with joy alone, but with legal turmoil and potential criminal charges.

NSW Surrogacy FAIL: What Lawyers Got Wrong and How to Avoid It

Surrogacy journeys should be joyous and smooth pathways to parenthood, but unfortunately, legal missteps can turn them into complex, frustrating ordeals.

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