Cambodia, Surrogacy Law

Cambodia – Surrogacy law progresses

Source Khmer Times

Interior Minister Sar Kheng is monitoring the progress of a draft law aimed at addressing the problem of surrogacy in the Kingdom, which is now being debated at the inter-ministerial level.

Mr Kheng on Tuesday evening briefed Donica Pottie, Canada’s Ambassador to the Kingdom, on the draft laws progress, ministry spokesman Phat Sophanith said on Tuesday.

“Currently, Cambodia is working on the draft surrogacy law and I will look into it closely, although now the bill is yet to be adopted,” Mr Kheng said during the meeting. “We will try to solve the problem since the surrogate business is now a very complex issue with regards to human rights and other issues.”

Read more

Cambodia, Surrogate Mother

Pregnant Cambodian women charged with surrogacy and human trafficking

Source The Guardian

Thirty-three pregnant Cambodian women hired to act as surrogate mothers were formally charged with surrogacy and human trafficking offences.

The women, who were arrested last month when police raided the illegal business, were charged on Friday at the Phnom Penh municipal court under a law that specifically targets surrogacy, which was outlawed in 2016 as Cambodia was becoming a popular destination for would-be foreign parents seeking women to give birth to their children.

Acting as an intermediary between an adoptive parent and a pregnant woman carries a penalty of up to six months in prison. The human trafficking offence is punishable by seven

Read more

Cambodia, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Cambodia – Only half of surrogate paperwork approved

Source:  Phnom Penh Post

A surrogate mother pictured in a poor Cambodian neighbourhood in 2016. Just six applications have been approved by the court to allow foreign parents to leave the country with their babies. Eliah Lillis

Just half of an estimated dozen applications by parents trying to prove their DNA link to their baby born via a Cambodian surrogate have so far been approved by the Phnom Penh Municipal court, officials said yesterday.

Following an outright ban on the fraught practice of commercial surrogacy in Cambodia, where hundreds of babies are estimated to have been born to foreign couples, the Kingdom laid out guidelines in July last year, requiring intended parents to get DNA tests, have their paternity status verified by the courts and apply for exit visas through their embassies in order to legally take their babies home.

Read more

Australia, Cambodia, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother

Cambodia court dismisses Australian nurse’s appeal against surrogacy jail sentence

Source:  The Sydney Morning Herald

Phnom Penh: Australian nurse Tammy Davis-Charles, who is suffering eye cancer, has had her appeal against an 18-month jail sentence on surrogacy charges rejected by a Cambodian court.

Davis-Charles sobbed after a judge ruled on Monday that under Cambodian law the court could not take into consideration her cancer.

Read more