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A gay Singaporean doctor's failed bid to adopt his American-born biological son is the first application by a single to adopt his own child conceived through surrogacy here, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) told The Sunday Times.

The man travelled to the US and paid US$200,000 (S$267,000) to father a boy through surrogacy arrangements. Going by judgement grounds released on Tuesday, a district judge rejected his bid to adopt the child - now four years old - whom he brought back with him to Singapore.

While there are no surrogacy services allowed here, one centre in the United States said it has seen a doubling of inquiries from Singapore each year over the past two years, with more heterosexual couples turning to surrogacy as the stigma of infertility has lessened, the centre said.

The British Surrogacy Centre of California handled 18 clients from Singapore and received more than 100 calls and e-mails from prospective Singaporean parents over the past year, chief executive Barrie Drewitt-Barlow told The Sunday Times.

Of the inquiries, about half were from heterosexual couples, while 30 per cent were from gay couples and 20 per cent single men.