Wombs for hire: the painful price of Asia’s baby trade
As the car bounces along a rural Thai road, a baby just a few months old watches the emerald green countryside rush by from Nicha’s* lap, oblivious to the countdown that has already begun. Soon the child will be handed over to her father to be raised in China by grandparents whos
AdvertisementThailandThis Week in AsiaPeopleWombs for hire: the painful price of Asia’s baby tradeCommercial surrogacy is illegal in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It is also worth an estimated US$15 billion a year5-MIN READ5-MIN ListenAidan JonesPublished: 1:30pm, 12 Jul 2026As the car bounces along a rural Thai road, a baby just a few months old watches the emerald green countryside rush by from Nicha’s* lap, oblivious to the countdown that has already begun.Soon the child will be handed over to her father to be raised in China by grandparents whose own hopes of a larger family were curtailed by decades of state population control.
Nicha may never see the baby she gave birth to again, but she knows that is the painful price of commercial surrogacy.This is her third time around the carousel of pregnancy, love, nurture and eventual separation that always ends with the same abrupt emotional wrench.Newborn babies in hospital.
Surrogate mothers in Southeast Asia can be paid up to US$15,000 to help strangers become parents. Photo: Shutterstock“It’s a deep bond, just like carrying and raising your own child,” Nicha told This Week in Asia, sharing videos taken on her phone of the smiling baby.“My whole family has fallen in love including my own parents and children.
It will be so hard to give up this baby, but I have to.”AdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.
9x1.0x1.1x1.
2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.
00x
Đọc thêm từ Tài chính
US, Iran Trade Wave of Attacks as Tehran Says Hormuz Closed
US forces struck Iran for a third time in a week, prompting retaliatory attacks from Tehran as it declared the Strait of Hormuz would be closed “until further notice.”
Hong Kong probes civil service negligence in 15-year delay over baby blunder case
Hong Kong authorities are reviewing whether any civil servant neglected their duties in a 15-year delay by the Medical Council in handling a complaint against a paediatrician linked to a boy’s permanent disability. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau told media on Sunday that delay
Mansion tax could become more like a terrace tax in London, warns estate agency boss
Fears are growing over the impact on the property market of rumoured mansion tax changes.