Egg Donation and Surrogacy for Foreigners in Cambodia
INACTIVE
Egg donation and surrogacy have become increasingly popular options for couples experiencing infertility around the world. In Cambodia, these services have been available to foreigners for several years, albeit in a largely unregulated and unmonitored industry.
Eggspecting was a very prominent agency that sent foreign donors, from America, Europe, and South Africa to Cambodia from approx. 2015-2016 and the only American agency to do so.
The history of egg donation and surrogacy in Cambodia can be traced back to the early 2000s, when a few clinics began offering these services to foreigners. Due to Cambodia’s relatively low cost of living, coupled with the availability of affordable healthcare, the country quickly became an attractive destination for couples seeking infertility treatments.
However, the surrogacy industry in Cambodia became the focus of international attention in 2016, after it was revealed that Australian nurse Tammy Davis-Charles had been running a surrogacy business in the country. In early 2017 Tammy Davis-Charles was subsequently arrested and charged with trafficking and acting as an intermediary in commercial surrogacy as well as falsifying documents.
Following the scandal, the Cambodian government moved to shut down the surrogacy industry and arresting many surrogates causing other already pregnant surrogates to go into hiding. The government of Cambodia declared commercial surrogacy illegal in 2016 and in a dramatic move basically made the law retroactive. This decision left many couples who had already paid for surrogacy services in limbo, and it also made it extremely difficult f to find surrogates in the country.
While surrogacy became illegal, egg donation remained legal in Cambodia. Some clinics continued to offer egg donation services, but the quality of these services was not always clear, and the lack of regulation meant that the industry was prone to abuse.
In 2020, the Cambodian government introduced a new draft law that would regulate surrogacy in the country. The law would allow for altruistic surrogacy, whereby a woman could carry a child for another person or couple without receiving payment. However, the law has not yet been passed, leaving the status of surrogacy in Cambodia unclear.
In conclusion, the history of egg donation and surrogacy for foreigners in Cambodia has been a tumultuous one. While the country was once a popular destination for surrogacy services, the government’s crackdown on commercial surrogacy in 2016 left the industry in a state of limbo. The status of surrogacy in Cambodia remains unclear, leaving many couples with few options for starting a family. Egg donation remains a legal option, but the lack of regulation in the industry means that the quality of these services may be questionable.