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STORY: Jacob Holder and his husband, Surapong Koonpaew are out with their son, Elijah Bprin.Like countless families in Bangkok, they're enjoying a morning stroll in the city's Lumpini Park.The trio cherishes these quiet moments together, yet their journey to this moment was - and is still - far from ordinary.Holder moved to Thailand in 2012, where he met his husband Koonpaew, also known as 'Keng' in 2021.The couple got married two years later in the United States. Soon after, their son was born via legal surrogacy in Colombia, because the process is unavailable to same-sex couples in Thailand.But although both fathers are on his U.S. birth certificate, Elijah has no legal ties to Keng under Thai law.Elijah is currently on a tourist visa in Thailand, but isn’t recognized as a Thai child or given the same rights as others."For us, Keng was the second person to hold our son after he was born. Within the first 30 minutes after he was born, he was there holding him and so, he's his parent through and through just as much as I am. But when we arrive to Thailand, legally, they are strangers, legally, they have no connection. If tomorrow, God forbid, something did happen to me, we have real concerns what then happens between Keng and our son under the eyes of the Thai law."Thailand made headlines by becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. While that was historic, the law has its limits. It denies LGBTQ couples full parental rights, defining parenthood as a bond between a man and a woman.That's because the definition of a family in Thai law is still a father as a man, a mother as a woman, and biological birth.Activists pushed for a gender-neutral definition of parenthood in the marriage equality bill, but it was rejected by most lawmakers.Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn is a human rights specialist at the advocacy group Fortify Rights."I mean, it's true that on the paper, everything looks nice. The celebration, all the parades that will come, the, you know, the campaigning and, and all the flying rainbows that, that comes with the celebration. It, it really, you know, looks promising, but that's why the movement needs to continue. That's why we need to continue campaigning for what it means to open up fully for LGBTQI couples when it comes to their rights to find a family."Later this year, Holder and Keng expect their second child, conceived through overseas surrogacy with Keng’s DNA.This will create a new complexity: one sibling will have Thai citizenship, while Elijah will remain an American—a reality the couple is ready to accept."Growing up, I want him (Elijah Bprin), I would like for him to be seen as our son, our son, not just Jacob's, (he's) my son as well. Growing up here in Thailand, you know, he physically, he would definitely look different from Asian kids, Thai kids. But, at heart, he, he grow up here. He's surrounded himself by Thai people. Every piece of him is Thai as well. And I want him to feel that."
