from the they-know-what-causes-that-now dept.
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.
Related: Medical Ethics of Multiples, Surrogacy, and Abortion
Related Stories
Surrogacy is an option for having children, but with this new possibility come new ethical dilemmas as well. In order to improve the odds of implanted embryos, two or three are often implanted in the surrogate. Bringing multiples to term carries a number of risks so when the father-to-be wants a "selective reduction" done who has the right to deny or impose the process?
The 47-year-old Californian had agreed to be a surrogate for a 50-year-old postal worker in Georgia, and she became pregnant last year with three boys. But then, she said later in a lawsuit, the man expressed concerns about his dwindling finances and about the health of the babies. He asked her to undergo "selective reduction" to eliminate one of the embryos.
She filed a lawsuit to keep all three alive, and has also filed for custody of them. The three were born via Caesarian on February 22nd and are all underweight. WSB Radio reports she has asked the courts to rule her 75-page contract unenforceable so that she will be protected from the consequences of breaching it.
At what point does someone else's genetic material and offspring become the surrogate's? Or has she breached her contract and in doing so, harmed the three infants?
Woman can use donor sperm in IVF without estranged husband's consent, court rules
A Victorian woman will not need her estranged husband's permission to undergo IVF using donor sperm following a ruling by the federal court in Melbourne. The court heard that the woman, who cannot be named, has been separated and living apart from her husband since late 2017. The woman wanted to try to conceive through IVF using donor sperm, but was told by a Melbourne reproductive clinic that under Victoria's Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act she first needed her husband's consent.
The matter was urgent because the woman is 45 and patients are generally only able to use their own eggs in an IVF procedure when they are younger than 46. The woman said she recently underwent a procedure to collect her eggs and freeze them for later use after she was divorced, but was told the prospect of a successful pregnancy using frozen eggs was lower than IVF using fresh eggs. The clinic told her that with her husband's consent, she could begin a round of treatment later in September.
[...] Under the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act, there is a guiding principle that "the welfare and interests of persons born or to be born as a result of treatment procedures are paramount". But the court heard that this should not justify requiring the consent of a former partner who, without such consent, would have no responsibility for the child anyway.
Federal court Justice John Griffiths ordered that the woman could undergo IVF without consent and that the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act discriminated against her on the basis of her marital status. He declared that part of the law "invalid and inoperable". In his judgment published on Friday, Griffiths said nothing in his ruling was intended to harm the reputation of the woman's estranged husband and that the decision would not directly affect his legal rights, and that he would not be imputed with any parental rights, obligations or responsibilities.
See also: Parents likely to block girlfriend's attempt to access sperm from dead son (2016)
Related: Bioethicist Recommends Freezing Sperm to Lessen Genetic Risks
Divorced Couple Fighting in Court over Frozen Embryos
Medical Ethics of Multiples, Surrogacy, and Abortion
Deceased Dutch Fertility Clinic Doctor's Belongings to be DNA Tested
Japanese Man Granted Paternity Rights to 13 Children Born to Surrogate Mothers
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:17AM (3 children)
He isn't wasting his inherited money on trinkets. He is mass-producing the next generation for Japan.
Just think what Jeff Bezos could do for America with his $100,000,000,000. If it takes $1,000,000 to fully raise a child in moderate luxury, he could raise 100,000 kids.
(Score: 4, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:29AM (1 child)
The hardest thing for me about raising kids has been finding the time. I know friends who leave their business so they can spend more time with their children, and I say, "Gimme a break!" My children could not love me more if I spent 15 times more time with them.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:24AM
This is like both the truest, and the saddest, thing I have ever read on SN.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:35AM
Jeff Bezos: reusable rockets will let a trillion people colonise the solar system [techradar.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:40AM (4 children)
So who is the genetic mother? Or was he just doing what wealth Japanese men do in Thailand? What happened to the other three? And why does Bezos keep showing up?
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:51AM (3 children)
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]:
NPR [npr.org] says:
And finally, CNN [cnn.com] says:
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]
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:47AM
...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)
And they would all be just as bald as he is.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 22 2018, @05:17AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZgqUl8Hps [youtube.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:06AM (1 child)
Rich young man fathers a lot of babies with foreigners, does not run away.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:21AM
Believes quantity makes up for quality and size after IVFing at least 20 surrogate women across at least two cuntries.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:16AM (4 children)
You are a young rich fuck, you want off-springs, you should go bang as many hot/smart/otherwise desirable chicks as you can, but don't get married.
What the heck is point of paying surrogate mothers?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:24AM (1 child)
Alternative, since he is Japanese, is concern over sanitation of non-japanese women.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:38AM
You one of them english "teacher" in Japan, ain't you?
Wake up, come home, get a proper job, build a life yourself. Stop being an embarrassment.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @07:21AM
In most of the non-western world, fucking and not marrying is considered rape. That's one of the reason why you hear so much about rape epidemic in the non-western world - their definition of rape is quite different from yours.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:55PM
With a surrogate, there is a contract that specifies terms.
Someone with assets who just knocks up just anyone can get dragged into court where someone besides the 2 of you gets to decide the terms--in particular, financial terms.
That's called child support, [wikipedia.org] though it often turns out to be adult female support.
...and if you don't pay, you can have your wages garnished or assets seized.
Piss the judge off enough and you go to jail.
...and it seems that this guy actually wants a family of a sort.
With no contract, a judge can decide that you get no contact with your offspring even though you're paying for the kid.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]