Gay couple wrapped up in Thailand surrogacy battle get a hearing date
By Micah Sulit
The fight to adopt baby Carmen, born via a Thai surrogate, has trapped her and parents Gordon Lake and Manuel Valero in Thailand and brought them global media attention after the surrogate mum refused to sign over custody of the child.
Today (October 30) the gay couple went to a hearing at Bangkok’s Central Juvenile and Family Court, only to be told that their case will be heard next year, reports the Bangkok Post.
When she found out after Carmen’s birth that the would-be parents were a gay couple, surrogate Patidta Kusolsang, who is not the biological mum, refused to sign papers that would give Lake and Valero custody, and let them leave the country with Carmen. Kusolsang has told the media that she suspected the couple of being human traffickers.
Under Thai law, the birth mother has automatic custody of a child.
In July, new surrogacy policies came into effect. Couples seeking surrogacy now have to be legally married for three years minimum, and at least one partner must be a Thai citizen – criteria that Lake and Santos do not meet.
After today’s hearing, Lake and Santos took to Facebook to share their sadness at having to wait until March for their next court appointment.
“We just want to cry and think about what we have to do with our lives and with our family,” they said.
At the same time, they wrote that “the best thing that happened today is that we’ve met so many lovely people who came to support us”, including the surrogate’s husband and two sons, and expressed gratitude to their supporters.
According to the Bangkok Post, Thai trials often take two or three years.
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