Interpol investigates man’s 16 surrogate babies

BANGKOK – Interpol said it has launched a multinational investigation into what Thailand has dubbed the “Baby Factory” case: a 24-year-old Japanese businessman who has 16 surrogate babies and an alleged desire to father hundreds more.

Police raided a Bangkok condominium earlier this month and found nine babies and nine nannies living in a few unfurnished rooms filled with baby bottles, bouncy chairs, play pens and diapers. They have since identified Mitsutoki Shigeta as the father of those babies – and seven others.

“What I can tell you, so far, is that I’ve never seen a case like this,” Thailand’s Interpol director, police Maj. Gen. Apichart Suribunya, said Friday. “We are trying to understand what kind of person makes this many babies.”

Apichart said that regional Interpol offices in Japan, Cambodia, Hong Kong and India have been asked to probe Shigeta’s background, beginning last week. Police say he appears to have registered businesses or apartments in those countries and has traveled there frequently.

“We are looking into two motives. One is human trafficking and the other is exploitation of children,” said police Lt. Gen. Kokiat Wongvorachart, Thailand’s lead investigator in the case. He said Shigeta has made 41 trips to Thailand since 2010. On many occasions he traveled to nearby Cambodia, where he brought four of his babies.

Shigeta has not been charged with any crime. He is trying to get his children back – the 12 in Thailand are being cared for by social services – and he has proven through DNA samples sent from Japan that he is their biological father. He has said through a lawyer that he simply wanted a large family and has the means to support it.

Kokiat said Shigeta hired 11 Thai surrogate mothers to carry his children, including four sets of twins.

Shigeta’s activities drew no attention until early this month, when an Australian couple was accused of abandoning a baby with his Thai surrogate mother – but taking his twin sister – after learning the boy had Down syndrome. Though the couple dispute the allegation, the case prompted a crackdown by Thai authorities on what had been a largely unregulated industry.