The Phnom Penh Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the prison sentence of an Australian woman convicted of providing commercial surrogacy services in Cambodia.
Judge Kim Dany said the appeals court found the lower court conviction of Tammy Davis-Charles complied with Cambodian law and therefore upheld the verdict.
Davis-Charles is serving one-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted last August.
During the court appearance last year, Davis-Charles said she had “lost everything” since her arrest and wanted to be reunited with her family in Australia, including her twin sons.
Cambodia banned commercial surrogacy in 2016 after becoming a popular destination for would-be parents seeking women to give birth to their children. Davis-Charles was arrested in November 2016, within weeks of the ban.
She has said she launched her business in Cambodia only after consulting three local lawyers who assured her the clinic was legal.
Surrogates were paid US$10,000 for each pregnancy, she said.
The surrogacy business boomed in Cambodia after it was restricted by law in neighboring Thailand, India and Nepal. After the crackdown, the trade has shifted to Laos.
Dany said that Davis-Charles could appeal to the Cambodian Supreme Court if she is not satisfied with yesterday’s court decision.
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