Aggregated News
An American-Spanish same-sex couple opened a high-profile custody battle on Wednesday for a baby girl born to a Thai surrogate mother, who decided she wanted to keep the child when she found out they were gay.
The case is complicated by the fact that Thai law does not recognise same-sex marriages and also by a new law that bans commercial surrogacy, which took effect after baby Carmen's birth.
The couple -- American Gordon Lake and Spaniard Manuel Santos, both 41 -- have been stuck in Thailand since launching their legal battle after Carmen was born in January 2015.
"It's the day we've been waiting for -- for a long, long time. Today is one of the most important days of our lives," Mr Lake said outside Bangkok's Juvenile and Family Court. "The court should give us custody of Carmen because it's the right thing to do."
Mr Lake is the biological father of baby Carmen, who is now 14 months old, while the egg came from an anonymous donor, not surrogate Patidta Kusolsang.
When Carmen was born, Ms...
