On 10/7, Huynh Phuong Thao was sentenced by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court to two years in prison for organizing surrogacy for commercial purposes and six months for using forged documents of agencies and organizations.
Four other defendants involved in the case received sentences ranging from six months of probation to two years in prison.
The court panel issued the sentences after acknowledging several mitigating circumstances for the defendants, including sincere declarations, remorse, the return of a portion of their illicit gains, and raising young children.
The verdict stated that Thao and her accomplices sought infertile couples desiring children. They also contacted women capable of carrying a pregnancy, arranged accommodation and care for them, took them for medical examinations, and connected them with hospitals for assisted reproductive technology procedures before handing over the children to the commissioning parents.
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The defendants at a court appearance in March. *Photo: Binh Nguyen*
According to the indictment, the defendants organized surrogacy for numerous infertile couples for profit.
Around October 2022, Thao arranged a "full-service package" with a couple using the IUI method for 750 million VND. Through Yen, Thao hired a woman named Ngoc to be a surrogate for 345 million VND. Thao arranged accommodation, medical examinations, and sperm insemination procedures at a Ho Chi Minh City hospital, presenting Ngoc and the commissioning father as a married couple.
In August 2023, Ngoc gave birth to a baby girl. DNA test results confirmed the child was the husband's biological offspring. However, the hospital, suspecting surrogacy, did not issue a birth certificate. Thao then contacted Suong to forge this document at another hospital for the family to register the birth. In total, Thao collected 750 million VND and, after deducting expenses, profited approximately 95 million VND.
Similarly, in May 2023, Thao accepted another "full-service package" for a different couple for one billion VND. Through Diem's mediation, Thao found a surrogate and agreed to pay her 280 million VND. When the surrogate carried twins and gave birth in April 2024, Thao had received the full one billion VND. Of this, 420 million VND was paid to the surrogate for carrying twins, and after deducting other expenses, Thao profited approximately 110 million VND.
In the same case, Nguyen Thi Noi was accused of using social media to find a surrogate for a gay man, charging 80 million VND. Noi also arranged a forged marriage certificate between the man and the surrogate for 2,2 million VND.
Through Diem, Noi found a surrogate. As per the agreement, the man covered the costs of egg purchase and other expenses for the surrogate. After successfully giving birth to twins, the woman received 374 million VND.
Binh Nguyen
