Gay Singaporean wins appeal to adopt surrogate child

A gay Singaporean on Monday won a landmark court case which will allow him to adopt a child he fathered through a surrogate.

The man, 46, and his partner of 13 years carried out the process in the US at a cost of $200,000, as surrogacy is illegal in Singapore, the BBC reported.

"Our decision should not be taken as an endorsement of what the appellant and his partner set out to do," said Singapore High Court Chief Justice Sunderesh Menon in his judgement.

He said that there was "significant weight" put towards the concern that the ruling would "not violate the public policy against the formation of same-sex family units".

The man tried to legally adopt the child but the bid was rejected last year, leaving him with no legal parental rights.

The mother - who waived all her rights under the surrogacy deal - is also foreign, making the four-year-old child ineligible to automatically qualify for Singaporean citizenship. 

The egg donor has never been identified.

The man will have sole parental rights of the child when the adoption takes place.

Speaking to the BBC, lawyer Ivan Cheong said his client was "overjoyed and happy that at the end of a long adoption process, the child's welfare is upheld".

Same-sex marriages are not recognised in Singapore and gay sex is illegal.