Gay couple fight for the custody of their daughter
A custody battle has started in Thailand. A married couple in Spain, Gordon Lake and Manuel Valero, are fighting their Thai surrogate for custody of Carmen, their 14-month old daughter.
Luke and Valero have been trapped in Thailand for more than a year after their surrogate refused to sign the papers needed to get Carmen a passport. Patidta Kusolsang, the Thai surrogate, reportedly handed the newborn over to the new fathers but had a change of heart after the couple left the hospital.
The couple, after visiting Bangkok’s Central Juvenile and Family Court, were told last year that they would have to wait for their case to be heard.
Gordon Lake is Carmen’s biological father and the egg came from an anonymous donor, so Kusolsang isn’t biologically related to Carmen. Talking to the Telegraph, lake said:
“We’re the people that wanted to have a child. We just want to go home and we want to be a family. A normal, boring family.”
Although Kusolsang isn’t related to the child, Thai law doesn’t recognise same-sex marriage and recently banned commercial surrogacy in the country.
Gay Times reported that Thai law recognises the woman who gives birth as the legal mother. Kusolsang spoke to NPR last year and said, “They are not natural parents in Thai society. They are same-sex, not like male and female that can take care of babies.”
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Since her refusal to sign over custody, Lake, Valero and their daughter have been hiding out in Thailand, scared that she’d be taken away.The couple even started their own crowdfunding campaign on Fundly so they can afford to stay in Thailand and fight.
The couple’s lawyer, Rachapol Sirikulchit, is confident they’ll retain custody and finally be able to take Carmen home.
Testimony begins March 31.