Cambodia charges nurse over illegal surrogacy clinic

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court has charged an Australian nurse for operating an illegal fertility clinic, weeks after the country declared a ban on commercial surrogacy.

Tammy Davis-Charles, 49, had allegedly charged foreign couples US$50,000 (RM220,700) for surrogacy services and paid Cambodian women US$10,000 (RM44,000) to US$12,000 (RM53,000) to carry babies on their behalf, Police Colonel Keo Thea, director of Phnom Penh’s anti-trafficking bureau, said.

She was detained in the Cambodian capital over the weekend and charged along with two Cambodian staff, Penh Rithy and Samrithchan Chariya.

“They acted as intermediaries in surrogacy and engaged in falsifying documents,” Keo Thea said.

Cambodia moved to shut down its booming commercial surrogacy industry last month after similar bans in Thailand, India and Nepal. — Reuters