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| Consul Ferrera says 5 cases of ex HK OFWs being recruited as surrogates have been recorded |
Officials of the Philippine Consulate General and the Migrant Workers Office have expressed alarm over the number of reported cases of abuse committed against overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong being recruited as surrogate mothers abroad.
During a Filipino community meeting last Sunday at the
OFW Global Centre, Deputy Consul General Von Ryan Ferrera said the Consulate has already recorded
five such cases involving former domestic workers in Hong Kong over the past
year.
Surrogacy, or the arrangement where a woman (a
surrogate) agrees to get pregnant and give birth to a child on behalf or
another person or couple, is outlawed in many places like the Philippines and
Hong Kong, especially when it is done for a fee.
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The ex-OFWs had reached out to the Department of
Foreign Affairs after they were abandoned or driven away by their recruiters because
their pregnancy did not go as planned, or they were found afflicted with some
ailment.
Consul Ferrera said the OFWs were promised payment of
up to Php1million - but that was contingent to them getting pregnant and successfully
deliver babies according to the terms set by their recruiters, or to their
liking.
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| Labatt Chavez say some surrogates were not paid because their babies were ugly or disabled |
Labor Attache Cesar Chavez, Jr. who was also at the
meeting, bluntly described the situation some of the surrogates found
themselves in: “Ayaw silang bayaran kasi pangit
ang bata o may kapansanan” (They were not paid either because the baby was
ugly or had some disability).
Chavez said there could be many more OFWs from Hong
Kong who were trafficked to places where surrogacy is not outlawed, mainly in Balkan
states, but have escaped their radar. Many seek help from Philippine authorities
only when they run into trouble.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
“These are only the reported cases, I am sure yung mga unreported cases mas marami,”
(there are many more unreported cases), he said.
He warned it would be too risky for any OFW to get into
such an arrangement because they are not documented or may not even hold proper
visas in the places they end up in, so they cannot go to local authorities for
help.
He appealed to all OFWs in Hong Kong to reject any
such offers despite the promise of a hefty reward or a chance to move to
another place for work and higher pay.
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| Surrogates are offered up to Php1million for carrying babies for other people |
In a warning issued by the Consulate only in April this year, it was said that a number of Filipinas contracted to become surrogates had reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs after their recruiter refused to pay them after learning they were afflicted with some ailment.
At the same time, their recruiter’s
handlers were trying to drive them away from their boarding houses but would
not give them money for their return air fare. The women were also warned that
the police would be tipped off about their whereabouts if they did not leave.
The first case of reported abuse of an
ex-HK OFW-turned-surrogate was reported in May 2024 after a 36-year-old
Filipina sought help from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, saying she was being
held captive by her abuser who was also forcing her to abort a six-month-old
baby in her womb.
The OFW said she was tempted to accept
the surrogacy offer after she was terminated by her Hong Kong employer and was offered
a reward of US$11,800 over nine
months to carry an implanted egg in her womb.
Her
recruiter secured a tourist visa for her in Georgia, to where she flew directly
from Hong Kong. After she sounded out the alarm she was rescued from her captor
but was able to fly back to the Philippines only after giving birth in Tbilisi.
According
to the PCG then, a syndicate appeared to be targeting terminated domestic
helpers for surrogacy jobs in Georgia, where many ended up being raped and
forced to undergo abortion.
