TOKYO—A Japanese man who has won legal custody of 13 surrogate children in Thailand has remained virtually anonymous in the Japanese media. Aggressive reporting by Japanese tabloids after his surrogate babies were discovered in a Bangkok condominium in 2014 quickly faded, allegedly after defamation lawsuits and pressure were applied by his father’s company. Shigeta is the oldest of founder Yasumitsu Shigeta’s three sons and has businesses in Asian countries including Thailand and Cambodia, where he made arrangements for the surrogate children. Japanese tabloids reported in 2014 that Shigeta said he wanted to produce 100 to 1,000 children and that if he were successful, it would cost millions of dollars. Japanese tabloids have reported that Shigeta’s parents were spotted kissing a baby when they visited their son in Cambodia, where he also had several children by surrogate mothers.

Source: thestar February 22, 2018 01:30 UTC