'Patriot vs Criminal'... Surrogacy Controversy Sparked by a Man in His 60s with Three Children

Surrogates Paid to Give Birth Using Client's Own Sperm
"Clients Are Patriots... Calls for Legalizing Surrogacy"

A man in his 60s who had three children through surrogacy has been booked, sparking controversy over the 'legality of surrogacy.'

On the 9th, the Women and Youth Division of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency announced that four people involved in the so-called 'Pyeongtaek Surrogacy Case' have been booked for criminal investigation. Earlier, the investigative authorities booked four people, including the 60-year-old biological father A, the 30-year-old surrogate mother B, and the 50-year-old female broker C, on charges of violating the Child Welfare Act (child trafficking).

According to the police investigation, wealthy A made a 'surrogacy contract' with B, who currently resides in Pyeongtaek, through a broker and handed over 49 million won. B became pregnant with A's sperm and gave birth to a baby boy in 2016, then handed the baby over to A's side according to the contract. Their crime was revealed during a late comprehensive investigation of unregistered births. The police confirmed that A had three children through surrogate mothers including B. A told the police, "I already have adult children, but I wanted to have more children, so with my wife's consent, I had a baby through a surrogate mother."

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Such surrogacy cases continue to occur.

In August 2019, the Anyang Branch of the Suwon District Court sentenced a woman to four years in prison for receiving 80 million won as payment for acting as a surrogate mother. After giving birth, the woman threatened the client couple by saying she would reveal the secret of the child's birth and filed various lawsuits, for which she was punished.

Also, a surrogate mother in her 30s currently on trial at the Daegu District Court is accused of approaching an infertile couple, receiving 55 million won, and giving birth to a baby on their behalf. She was also investigated for acting as a broker who offered money to unmarried mothers in exchange for egg donation. The prosecution requested a nine-year prison sentence for this surrogate mother in October.

A surrogate mother provides her own eggs to infertile couples and gives birth to a child, with the sperm coming from the infertile husband's side. Although this is clearly illegal, it still exists underground because the demand for surrogate mothers remains steady.

It is analyzed that this is related to the current situation where the number of infertility and subfertility patients is increasing due to the rising age of first marriage.

According to recent data on infertility and subfertility procedures over the past five years (2018?2022) released by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the total number of infertility patients increased by 4.7% (an average annual increase of 1.2%) from 227,822 in 2018 to 238,601 in 2022. During the same period, the number of subfertility patients also rose by 16.0% (an average annual increase of 3.8%) from 121,038 in 2018 to 140,458 in 2022. Because there are many people who want to have children but cannot, surrogacy cannot disappear.

Meanwhile, the number of babies born in the first to third quarters of this year was 177,000, marking the lowest since statistics began in 1981. The total fertility rate, which indicates the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, stood at only 0.7 as of the third quarter. Accordingly, some voices are gradually emerging that to solve the low birthrate problem, babies should be born even through surrogacy. In fact, comments on the 'Pyeongtaek Surrogacy Case' news include "The client is a patriot," "Legalize surrogacy," "Since one parent is the biological parent, it's better than adoption," and "I don't understand why it's illegal."

Those advocating for the legalization of surrogacy cite overseas examples, noting that countries such as the UK, Greece, Vietnam, Israel, and Canada allow surrogacy only when it is non-commercial. Countries like India, Russia, Ukraine, and the US state of California permit commercial surrogacy as well.

On the other hand, there are also considerable opinions that the legalization of surrogacy should be approached cautiously because it could commodify women's pregnancy and reproduction, lead to legal disputes over the child born, and cause various social and ethical issues.