A man in New Zealand has won the right to adopt the child he illegally paid a surrogate in Thailand to carry.
According to reports, the man is a resident of New Zealand and contacted a fertility clinic in Bangkok, which drafted a commercial surrogacy agreement despite surrogacy being illegal in the nation except in specific circumstances for heterosexual, married couples. Commercial surrogacy is also illegal in New Zealand.
However, the man allegedly paid a “significant” amount of money to a person with a connection to the fertility business. After the surrogate was located, a donor egg was fertilized with the man’s sperm. The surrogate gave birth to a baby boy who was then taken from the only parent he had ever known — an action known to cause trauma that can alter a child’s adult brain function later in life.
The surrogate was listed as the mother on the birth certificate, but she relinquished custody to the man, who applied to adopt his son in Family Court in New Zealand. Oranga Tamariki, an organization “dedicated to supporting any child in New Zealand whose wellbeing is at significant risk of harm now, or in the future,” strongly opposed the adoption.
According to Oranga Tamariki, “Under New Zealand law, children born as the result of a surrogacy arrangement, whether in New Zealand or overseas, are unlikely to have any legal relationship to the New Zealand intending parents. The legal relationship is determined by the Status of Children Act 1969 and this says that the surrogate who gives birth to the child and their partner (if they have one) are considered to be the legal parents of the child. This is the case even when the intending parents are genetically related to the child or if the intending parents are recognised as the parents on the child’s overseas birth certificate.”
READ: Young woman with Down syndrome follows her ‘passion’ and prepares to open a café
The intended parent in New Zealand must then apply to adopt the child.
The organization said that an advisor on its international adoption team found there is “a concerning trend where New Zealanders have engaged in surrogacy around involving Thai surrogates, despite the illegality,” creating a risk to the relationship between the two nations.
“The concern is if children born of illegal surrogacy arrangements are allowed entry into New Zealand, and their parentage is then endorsed by an adoption order, that could be seen as an endorsement of unlawful actions,” the group told the court.
The judge ruled that the man was unaware of the surrogacy law in Thailand and that if an adoption was not permitted he and his son “who is very loved and well cared for” would be put in a difficult and unsustainable position.
If not allowed to adopt his son, the boy would only have temporary immigration status in New Zealand and would not be given citizenship or a New Zealand passport. The father would also not have legal authority in the child’s life.
The judge concluded, “A number of illegal steps or breaches of laws occurred in the creation of [the child]. However, he has now been born, and as a result, has the right to grow and thrive, to have a nationality, and the right to know and be cared for by his parent.”
She added, “The irregularities in his creation, or the sins of his father, should not be visited upon him.”
Regardless of the biological connection between the father and son, there are negative consequences of donor conception and surrogacy for the child created. Eight-five percent (85%) of donor-conceived individuals who took part in a Harvard study reported a shift in their “sense of self” upon learning about the nature of their conception. Those who participated in the study reported significant distress upon learning about the means of their conception, with about half seeking psychological help in order to cope with the revelation.
The same study found that 62% of the now-adult children conceived through donor technologies, including surrogacy, believe it to be unethical and immoral.
Tell President Trump, RFK, Jr., Elon, and Vivek: Stop killing America’s future.
Defund Planned Parenthood NOW!
