An Australian same-sex couple at the centre of Thailand’s surrogacy scandal has been able to leave the country with their newborn babies.

On Thursday, two Australian couples with babies born through commercial surrogacy deals were prevented from leaving Bangkok International Airport.

ABC can confirm one of the couples has now arrived in Singapore with their newborn twins.

It is understood the Australian Embassy in Bangkok is assisting several other families who remain in legal limbo in Thailand.

The Federal Government is urging people to seek independent legal advice before going to Thailand to arrange commercial surrogacy.

Thailand’s newly formed national assembly, which is heavily dominated by members of the military, had been handed draft laws to ban commercial surrogacy earlier this week.

The ruling army general does not want Thailand to be a surrogacy hub and is expected to move quickly to outlaw the practice, essentially ending a lucrative foreign market.

The changes come in the wake of controversy surrounding a West Australian couple accused by their Thai surrogate of abandoning their newborn son – known as baby Gammy, who has Down syndrome – and only taking home his healthy twin sister.

It was later revealed father David Farnell has 22 child sex convictions, including unlawful and indecent dealing with girls as young as seven when he was in his 20s, but he says the girl is “100 per cent safe” in his care.

DFAT said it had updated its travel advice for Thailand to reflect changes in the country’s surrogacy requirements.

Since the case of baby Gammy came to light, a number of fertility clinics have been raided and shut down.