13 Filipino women pregnant
Controversy has arisen in Cambodia after the discovery of so-called ‘baby factories’ that house women who will give birth to babies in exchange for money.
According to the Associated Press on the 13th (local time), an organization running an illegal surrogacy business that housed dozens of foreign women and gave birth to babies for them in exchange for money was discovered in Cambodia.
Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior announced in an official announcement the day before that it raided a villa in Kandal province near the capital Phnom Penh on the 23rd of last month and found 24 foreign women.
Twenty Filipino women and four Vietnamese women participated in the illegal surrogacy business, of which 13 Filipino women were pregnant.
The organization in question is accused of illegally recruiting surrogate mothers online, gathering them in one place, staying in a camp, and giving birth to babies.
Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior said, “On the 1st, 13 pregnant people were indicted on charges of violating the Act on Prevention of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, and could face up to 5 years in prison after giving birth,” adding, “These people are not victims, but voluntarily colluded with the company to act as surrogate mothers.” “It appears that he participated in the crime of handing over the baby after receiving money.”
According to the Associated Press, Cambodia has been in the spotlight as a replacement country since the surrogacy business began to be strictly regulated in Thailand, India, and Nepal. Cambodia amended its law in 2016 to ban commercial surrogacy after the country’s “illegal surrogacy industry” became popular with foreigners looking for women to bear children.
However, the cost of surrogacy business in Cambodia is much lower than in countries such as the United States or Australia, so it has consistently been considered a popular country for people who want a baby. Generally, in countries such as the United States and Australia, the cost of surrogacy is about 150,000 dollars, or about 203 million won.
In addition, Cambodia’s ‘baby factories’ did not easily disappear as the already widely established human trafficking network was not properly eradicated.
The Associated Press reported, “There were many cases of fraud in Cambodia where foreigners were deceived and recruited with lies, then held in virtual slavery, and crimes were committed against people who wanted babies online.”
Cambodia’s Minister of the Interior told the Associated Press, “The business that recruited the surrogate mothers is located in Thailand, and lodging and meals were provided in Cambodia for the recruited people to stay,” adding, “However, we were unable to obtain accurate information about the surrogate mother business (in Thailand).” He said.
He added, “Cambodia does not simply view the women as victims, but as criminals who colluded with organizers to act as surrogate mothers and then sell the babies for money.”
Previously, in July 2017, a Cambodian court sentenced two Cambodian nationals and an Australian woman to one year and six months in prison each for providing commercial surrogacy services.
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