ABOVE: One of few known photos of Mitsutoki Shigeta, during one of his 65 visits to Thailand, at the airport, baby slung over shoulder. Photo: Immigration Bureau
New details have emerged about the 24-year-old Japanese man who fled the country after authorities discovered a surrogate baby factory with 30 infants linked to him inside in a Lat Phrao condominium.
In a full-blown case of Japanese weird, Mitsutoki Shigeta, rumored scion of a telecom billionaire, sought to populate the world with 1,000 of his children, according to Japanese media.
“The man, who is believed to be the father of at least 16 surrogate babies in Thailand, has said that he wanted to father 10-15 babies each year and that his plan was to have a total of 100 to 1,000 children,” The Japan Times said.
Given his family’s reported wealth, it’s no longer believed Shigeta was trying to profit from either selling the babies, or even more darkly, harvesting their spinal stem cells.
Instead, employees of the New Life Global Network described Shigeta as bizarre and very insistent about his need for many babies.
In one account given by Shigeta, he said that he wanted to create enough voters to elect him to public office one day; another time he told a staff member he felt the best solution to a short human lifespan was to make as many children to leave behind.
New Life’s Sathorn-area office was raided and shut down by authorities last week.
Authorities have yet to file charges against Shigeta, as they try to determine whether he’s run afoul of human trafficking laws.
According to the Bangkok Post, a prominent Japanese lawyer has contacted Japanese media and told them not to report his name. The Japan Times report did not identify Shigeta by name.
Two weeks ago, police raided a Lat Phrao condominium owned by Shigeta on a tip. Inside the discovered nine infants and women caring for them. On Friday, another tip led them back to the same “Niche ID” condominium, where another 21 babies were discovered.
The sudden scrutiny of Thailand’s surrogacy industry came after a Chonburi province woman sought help for a Down syndrome baby she carried to term that was allegedly abandoned by her Australian customers.
Related:
Babies by the bundle: Officials discover 21 more newborns in Lat Phrao condo
Illegal IVF clinic in Sathorn shut down, new surrogacy law awaits approval
Nine newborns found in Lat Phrao condo, surrogacy scandal deepends
Australian couple in surrogate baby scandal want ‘Gammy’
Sayonara! Japanese dad of nine surrogate babies flees Thailand
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