Surrogacy in Hong Kong: all you need to know about the risks and legal ramifications involved
Hongkongers face strict rules surrounding surrogacy, which is only an option for married couples, and remains rare in the city because it falls into a legal grey area. We help you get to grips with the facts
The controversial topic of surrogacy hit the headlines again recently with the story of a Japanese millionaire who has fathered 13 children through Thai surrogate mothers.
The 28-year-old businessman was granted sole parental rights to the children by the Juvenile Court in Bangkok, because the mothers had signed away all rights to them and DNA tests proved that he was the biological father of all the children.
Bangkok court gives Japanese man who lived in Hong Kong custody of 13 children born to Thai surrogate mothers
It remains an odd case, however, particularly as nine of the babies were found in one flat in Bangkok and four others had been sent to Cambodia, prompting suspicions of human trafficking. The father, Mitsutoki Shigeta, said he simply wanted a big family.
Surrogacy can be a wonderful solution for parents who cannot have children naturally. They are now able through medical ingenuity to have children who are genetically connected to them.
In some parts of the world, notably the United States, such arrangements are closely regulated and surrogacy is accepted as a viable alternative to adoption and other medical processes, such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilisation. However, extreme care must be taken because surrogacy is not legal in many places, and surrogacy agreements that may be accepted in one jurisdiction will not be recognised in another. With the life and status of a child at stake, it is crucial to get this right. Whereas the public may be well informed about the medical advances, it is often remarkably uninformed about the ramifications of surrogacy and fertility law.
In Hong Kong, surrogacy agreements are unenforceable and commercial surrogacy is illegal. As a result, surrogacy remains rare in Hong Kong because it is a grey area of the law with potential criminal ramifications and risks. By making surrogacy arrangements unenforceable in Hong Kong, the court maintains control. It is not banned, however; arrangements are regulated by the Parent and Child Ordinance and allowed where, in view of the clinical condition of the commissioning couple, the commissioning wife is unable to carry a pregnancy to term and no other treatment option is practicable for her.
