Hong Kong businessman charged with providing surrogacy services overseas

A Hong Kong businessman and his company have been charged with providing surrogacy services overseas and advertising them in the city, where such arrangements are illegal. Harcourt director Alfred Siu Wing-fung appeared in Eastern Court on Monday to face the summary offences charging him with taking part in, and receiving payment for, a surrogacy arrangement. Surrogacy in Hong Kong is illegal under the Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance. Any promotion of such services for commercial purposes, even if they are not performed locally, is also prohibited. The company and its manager, Lin Siu-fong, were charged with the same offence. Police launched an investigation in May last year after receiving a tip-off about a local company which claimed to connect customers with surrogate mothers overseas and provide embryo sex selection services. Officers posed as customers to gather evidence and later arrested 10 people in connection with the service. The South China Morning Post confirmed that the current proceedings were in relation to the earlier arrest. The force at that time said the websites in question were removed. The SCMP found that Siu is named as a CEO and co-founder of First Fertility PGS Centre, a subsidiary of the United States-listed NewGenIvf Group, which provides fertility services and treatments in Asia. According to the centre’s website, the company operates in surrogacy hubs such as Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where such arrangement are legal for heterosexual married couples under the country’s law. The centre, whose Chinese name translates directly, currently operates four branches in Cambodia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan and Singapore. In a 2013 interview with the SCMP, Siu said he was the owner of Eden Hospitality, a company offering medical tourism packages to couples seeking to select the sex of their babies through assisted reproductive technologies. Under Hong Kong law, embryo sex selection, surrogacy arrangements and their promotion are prohibited. Offenders face a maximum penalty of HK$25,000 (US$3,222) and six months in jail upon conviction. Siu and the other defendants have hired senior counsel Joseph Tse Wah-yuen as their legal representative. Tse asked the court for an adjournment to allow time for negotiations with the prosecution. Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai granted the request and adjourned the hearing to April 21.