AKIPRESS.COM - A Japanese man will soon be reunited with 13 children he has fathered through surrogacy but was forced to leave behind in the wake of a “baby factory scandal”, AFP said.

The Central Juvenile and Family Court yesterday granted Mitsutoki Shigeta the sole custody of his children.

“The next step for us is to contact the Social Development and Human Security Ministry to take over the care of the children,” Shigeta’s lawyer Kong Suriyamontol said, after hearing the verdict.

Shigeta left Thailand in 2014 after officials raided his upmarket apartment in the heart of Bangkok on suspicion that he might have engaged in human trafficking.