Father wins custody of 13 surrogate children

A BANGKOK court has awarded a Japanese man “sole parent” rights to 13 children he fathered through surrogate mothers, after dismissing fears he was involved in human trafficking.

Mitsutoki Shigeta, 28, the son of a rich IT tycoon, became the focus of a “baby factory” scandal in 2014, after Thai police discovered he had fathered nine infants who were cared for by nannies in an upmarket Bangkok apartment. The children, along with four others also fathered by Mr Shigeta, were placed under state care while Interpol investigated whether it was a case of human trafficking.

The police said that he paid the surrogates between $9,300 (£6,600) and $12,500 (£9,000).

Mr Shigeta left the country as the potential scandal unfolded, but took Thai- land’s ministry of social development and human security to court.

Through his lawyer, he maintained that he simply wanted to have a large family and that he had the financial means to look after them.

The Bangkok court dismissed fears of human trafficking, instead ruling that he had enough carers and facilities to give the children a good home.