Cambodia cracks down on illegal international surrogacy as demand remains high

Commercial surrogacy is a highly popular service around the world — but as countries crack down on the potential for exploitation, it is becoming steadily harder for prospective parents to pursue.

In Western nations, surrogacy services can cost between €50,000 and €200,000. As a result, some Europeans are turning to developing countries where surrogates can be found more affordably.

Among the top destinations is Cambodia, where surrogacy became widespread after the practice was heavily restricted in neighbouring countries like Thailand, India and Nepal. 

Bill Houghton, founder of the Sensible Surrogacy agency, explains that when surrogacy agencies are forced to close due to local bans, they often relocate to the nearest destination without restrictive legislation.

“Surrogacy has been growing recently because it has become more widely known, the availability of surrogacy has increased, also because of celebrities who have taken that route and publicised how they form their families, which increases the demand,” he explains. 

The stories of clients from outside Asia are legion, and Cambodian agencies like Shenzhou Zhongtai have long facilitated surrogacy for clients from across the globe.

Liang Bo, chairman of Shenzhou Zhongtai, recalls Russian couples living with HIV who successfully had children via surrogacy in Cambodia. One Dutch couple had a child through a Cambodian surrogate named Bopha, who remains in contact with the parents and regularly receives updates on the child. 

But far from welcoming the influx of foreigners ready to pay women to carry children for them, the Cambodian government has decided to crack down by enforcing a ban that was last updated in 2016.

Cambodia has long struggled with human trafficking, particularly in connection with online scams and forced labour, and the problem has badly damaged the country's image.

According to Cambodian authorities, vulnerable women are often trafficked into illegal surrogacy or other exploitative situations under false pretences.

These women are frequently lured to Cambodia from abroad — as seen in a particularly dramatic recent case in which a police raid on a villa in Kandal province near Phnom Penh