Cambodia charges 15 with illegal surrogacy

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court has charged fifteen people with illegalsurrogacyas authorities look to stamp out the trade before it gets a foothold in the kingdom.

Cambodia banned surrogacy in 2016 in an attempt to prevent the lucrative practice from spreading in the country after neighbouring Thailand pulled the plug on it the previous year.

Police said Tuesday’s case involved 15 people, including 11 alleged surrogate mothers, two cooks and two managers, who were arrested in a raid last week in the capital Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Ly Sophana told AFP that the suspects where were charged with ‘selling for crossborder transfer and acting as an intermediary in surrogacy’.

Kea Thea, the head of Phnom Penh’s anti-human trafficking unit, refused to give further details about the case.

China’s easing of its one- child policy has seen demand for fertility clinics in the region go up, with fi gures estimating that 90 million women became eligible for another child after the rule was relaxed. But surrogacy is illegal in China, forcing those who can afford it to look for potential options abroad.

In July more than 30 women were arrested and charged after they were accused of being paid to deliver babies for Chinese couples.

An Australian nurse jailed for 18 months for running a surrogacy clinic in Cambodia had her sentence upheld in January. — AFP