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