On Tuesday, Gordon Lake and Manuel Valero, a Spanish-American homosexual couple were granted guardianship of Carmen, born fifteen months ago in Thailand through surrogacy. The biological mother contested the child leaving the country and refused to sign papers to allow a passport to be issued forCarmen (see surrogacy: in Thailand, a surrogate mother refuses to allow her baby to leave the country, Thailand: a surrogate mother refuses to allow the child to leave with a homosexual couple).
The verdict was given in a closed session. The press release stated that “the plaintiffs are homosexual but their homosexuality does not prevent them from educating the child and giving her happiness like any other child”. The judge concluded that, “in the child’s interest, only the plaintiff would have sole guardianship of the child”.
Despite new legislation and although the biological mother in Thailand is considered to be the “legitimate mother”, Gordon Lake and Manuel Valero will therefore take Carmen home with them.
Le Figaro (26/04/2016)