Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Japanese Man Granted Paternity Rights to 13 Children Born to Surrogate Mothers

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:08AM   Printer-friendly
from the they-know-what-causes-that-now dept.

takyon writes:

Mitsutoki Shigeta: 'Baby factory' dad wins paternity rights

A Bangkok court has awarded paternity rights to a Japanese man over 13 babies he fathered through Thai surrogate mothers. The ruling allows Mitsutoki Shigeta, 28, to pursue custody of the children.

The son of a wealthy entrepreneur, he caused controversy in 2014 when he was revealed to have fathered at least 16 babies via surrogates in Thailand. His so-called "baby factory" case and others led to Thailand banning commercial surrogacy for foreigners.

Mr Shigeta, who was not present at the trial, was awarded "sole parent" rights after the Thai surrogates forfeited their rights, according to the court, which did not name him.

"For the happiness and opportunities which the 13 children will receive from their biological father, who does not have a history of bad behaviour, the court rules that all 13 born from surrogacy to be legal children of the plaintiff," Bangkok's Central Juvenile Court said in a statement.

Also at Newsweek and ABC.

Related: Medical Ethics of Multiples, Surrogacy, and Abortion

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Japanese Man Granted Paternity Rights to 13 Children Born to Surrogate Mothers | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 16 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:51AM (3 children)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:51AM (#641533) Journal

    Jeff Bezos is said to be the #1 richest person in the world. Probably due to Amazon stock. He could pay a lot of women to have his seed.

    As for Mitsutoki Shigeta, the genetic mother(s) are apparently random according to Reuters [reuters.com]:

    The man had his sperm fertilize donor eggs, which were then planted in the wombs of the surrogate mothers in 2013, according to a press statement given by the court. No details were given on where the donor eggs were from.

    NPR [npr.org] says:

    In addition to the 9 babies discovered in the Bangkok apartment, police learned that Shigeta had an additional four Thai children and three more in India. It is believed that the number of children Shigeta has fathered is 20.

    And finally, CNN [cnn.com] says:

    Shigeta fathered 17 children in total via surrogacy in Thailand before 2015. Four of the 17 children he fathered had previously been placed in his custody, and weren't part of the raid or included in this court case. He has another two children by surrogates in India, according to his lawyer.

    So there's not a lot of agreement about the facts in this case. To an amusing extent.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   3  

  • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:47AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:47AM (#641628)

    ...in the least enjoyable way possible, it appears.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by SanityCheck on Thursday February 22 2018, @05:04AM (1 child)

    by SanityCheck (5190) on Thursday February 22 2018, @05:04AM (#641636)

    And they would all be just as bald as he is.