Bangkok (CNN) A Thai court has given a wealthy Japanese businessman sole custody of 13 children he fathered through surrogates in Thailand.

Mitsutoki Shigeta, 28, made headlines in 2014 for what became widely known as the "baby factory" case. It was one of several cases that led to the country banning foreigners using surrogate mothers in Thailand.

The children were seized by Thai authorities in a raid and sent to a government orphanage as part of a crackdown on suspected illegal surrogacy. Ranging in age from newborns to one year olds at the time of the raid, they were cared for by seven women in a Bangkok apartment. Police at the time said the babies were well taken care of.

Shigeta, who allegedly wanted to start a "big family," has been providing the children English and Japanese tuition while they've been in government care these past few years. The children's grandmother, who lives in Japan, visits them every month.

"He's very, very happy," Shigeta's lawyer, Kong Suriyamontol, told CNN after Tuesday's ruling. The process would now begin to arrange the children's return to their father, he added.

Thai lawyer Kong Suriyamontol speaks to the press after his client was granted paternity rights to his 13 children.

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