Fridae

Earlier this week it was revealed that as many as 65 surrogate babies of homosexual couples in Thailand are unable to come to Israel as the Interior Ministry has not granted Israeli citizenship to the infants.

A Facebook group set up by the homosexual Israeli couples who conceived the babies formed a Facebook group last week. The group now has over 20,000 likes and has received the support of Gal Uchovsky, a prominent Tel Aviv activist and journalist.

As Israel does not permit homosexual couples to initiate surrogacy within the country, many couples who wish to pursue the process are forced to go abroad. According to the group, the affected parents have all completed the legal and bureaucratic procedures required from the Thai authorities. However, according to Thai law, the babies are born as Thai citizens.

A statement from Israel’s Foreign Minstry read ‘The position of the authorities in Thailand, which was given to Israel in an official notice, is that mothers in Thailand who give birth to babies have full parental rights over those children, including custody.’

However, Member of the Knessit, Nitzan Horowitz, countered that ‘citizens from many other countries complete the processes of surrogacy in Thailand without any problem.’ 

The cases affect 20 babies already born and 40 due to be born by surrogate mothers. Campaigners point out that the surrogacy process is extremely costly and that many couples’ finances are being stretched by the delay and uncertainty.