Cambodia has offered amnesty to Australians who have paid for surrogacy services. They can collect their babies without fear of being arrested. This announcement was made following the arrest of an Australian nurse in Phnom Penh, accused of working for a surrogacy agency and falsifying documents. Amnesty was granted for 23 pregnancies arranged by the nurse but should not extend to other similar incidents.
Mrs. Chou, Secretary of State to the Home Office, explained that the recent measures were taken to denounce the use of commercial surrogacy from the perspective of organ harvesting, sexual abuse against children and the negligence of foreign parents. At a meeting held last Thursday, she asked the Australian Government to ensure that surrogate mothers receive the amounts of money promised to them.
Cambodia has emerged as a new low-cost commercial surrogacy market following the shut-down of this industry last year in Thailand. It follows close on the heels of Nepal and India.
ABC news (Liam Cochrane) 26/11/206