BANGKOK: Thailand’s interim parliament has given initial approval to a bill banning commercial surrogacy, the practice of hiring a woman to carry a fetus to term, a lawmaker said on Friday.

Thailand was rocked by several surrogacy scandals earlier this year.

One involved an Australian couple who took home a healthy baby girl born from a Thai surrogate mother but left behind her twin brother who had Down syndrome.

The other case involved a Japanese man who fathered at least 16 babies via Thai surrogates. National Legislative Assembly member Chet Siratharanon said the bill passed its first reading on Thursday, and a finalised version was expected to be ready for consideration within 30 days.

The interim government installed after a military coup in May vowed to outlaw commercial surrogacy and punish offenders with up to 10 years in prison.

Published in Dawn, November 29th , 2014