9 Surrogate Babies Found in Bangkok Condo

The bizarre discovery of nine babies and toddlers in a Bangkok condo is raising more concerns about easy foreign access to Thai surrogates in the wake of the high-profile baby Gammy case. Police found six boys and three girls, ages 2 weeks to 2 years, in the rented apartment, reports the Bangkok Post. They also found at least seven nannies, along with a pregnant woman who claims to be a surrogate hired for about $9,000 to give birth. Police say a Japanese businessman claims to be the biological father of all the children, though DNA tests are pending, reports AFP.

"If the Japanese man admits that all the children are his babies, we would ask him why he wanted to have so many babies," says a police official. The implication is that the businessman was running his own surrogate baby operation, and supplying the babies to boot. The kids are now being cared for in a state-run nursing home and the nannies have been released. It's not clear whether the businessman is in the country. As for the pregnant surrogate—who is seven months along—a government official tells the Post that she was talked into the arrangement by a friend and needed the money to pay for a car. Commercial surrogacy in Thailand is technically prohibited, though the nation is a surrogacy mecca for foreigners, Reuters reports. (The Australian man who adopted Gammy's sister is accused of being a pedophile.)