Georgian police investigate case of forced egg harvesting from Thai women

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into a human trafficking ring involving the harvesting of eggs from Thai women in Georgia.

On Thursday, the Interior Ministry said that the investigation was launched based on a letter received from the Interpol in Bangkok.

Thai media outlets have reported that three women were rescued from a human egg harvesting operation in Georgia, allegedly run by a group referred to as the ‘Chinese gangsters’.

The case came to light in Thai media through Pavena Hongsakul, the president of a Thai foundation that supports victims of abuse, who held a press conference about it on Monday. The three rescued women were also present at the conference.

According to Hongsakul, she learned about the case from one of the trafficked women, identified only as Na, who said she was only released by the gang after paying them approximately ฿70,000 ($2,100).

Na stated that she and around 10 others had travelled to Georgia after responding to a job advertisement for surrogate mothers. However, upon arrival, the women’s passports were confiscated and they were taken to a large compound containing four houses where there were at least 100 other Thai women.

There, the women were given hormone treatments to stimulate ovulation, and their eggs were harvested monthly, allegedly for sale abroad.

According to the Thai media, Na managed to return to Thailand in September last year after her family transferred the ransom money to the gang leader’s bank account.

‘Before she left the compound, three other women pleaded for her help, as they refused to allow the gang to sell their eggs but had no money to pay for their release’, Thai news outlet The Nation reported.

According to the media, after Na contacted the foundation and informed them about the case, the foundation sought assistance from the Foreign Affairs Division of the Royal Thai Police, which, in turn, reached out to Interpol, leading to the rescue of the three women. They returned to Thailand at the end of January.

However, the foundation urged the Thai government to coordinate with Chinese authorities to secure the release of the ‘approximately 100 remaining Thai women’ still trapped in Georgia, according to The Nation.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry stated that within the investigation, expert examinations have been scheduled, and searches were conducted at various locations.

However, the ministry did not specify when they had received the letter from Interpol or when they had launched the investigation. However, they said that ‘around 70 foreign nationals have been questioned, and none of them, except for the three Thai women, have made any complaints’.

The statement adds, ‘The three Thai women explained that they no longer wished to pursue surrogacy and remain at the residential address’, and further notes that ‘on the same day, the three women were transferred to a shelter for trafficking victims, and after completing the necessary legal procedures, they left the country’.

According to the statement, four foreign nationals were also questioned, who had brought the Thai citizens to Georgia for surrogacy purposes, and had their mobile phones seized as evidence.

Georgian authorities are investigating the case as a human trafficking case. If found guilty, the perpetrators could face up to 15 years in prison.