The government of Thailand banned four couples from the U.S. and Australia from leaving the country with their surrogate babies as part of an effort to curb the booming commercial surrogacy industry.

The crackdown comes in the wake of a controversy over Baby Gammy, a baby girl with Down syndrome who was allegedly abandoned to its surrogate mother because of his condition. The Australian biological parents involved in the public scandal denied leaving the baby and taking his healthy twin sister with them back home, according to ABC News.

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On Thursday afternoon, Thai officials blocked two Australian same-sex couples with surrogate babies from leaving Bangkok airport. In a bid to make immigration passage easier, one couple attempted to bring the Thai surrogate mother with them, the report added.

A day before, Thai authorities also prevented two U.S. couples who were about to leave the country.

According to Thai officials, the couples would need to secure court orders before they can transport the babies out of Thailand, a process that could run for several months.

In light of this issue, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade refused to confirm the ABC News report because of privacy issues. Instead, the department urged Australians to seek legal advice in Thailand and Australia before entering commercial surrogacy transactions in the Thailand.

At present, there are 150 Australian couples caught in the middle of the government crackdown on commercial surrogacy. The change entails stricter document requirements and an approval from the Family Juvenile Court to fly home their babies born to surrogate mothers in Thailand, The Sydney Morning Herald detailed.

Immigration authorities said the new requirements are needed to confirm that the birth mother relinquished her rights to custody of the baby.

Thai authorities also told the Australian embassy in Bangkok that if airport officials suspect a baby was born by surrogacy, they will require parents to show the baby's birth certificate, the contract for the surrogacy transaction, a copy of the surrogate mother's identification card and a copy of the biological parents' passports.

TagsThailand, U.S., Australia, ABC NEWS, Down syndrome, Baby Gammy, The Sydney Morning Herald, Bangkok