Surrogacy was restricted in Cambodia in November 2016 by the Ministry of Public Health (prakas, signed on 24 October 2016).
Article 12 of this practice reads: “Surrogacy, which is considered one of the hard and fast offers to have a child through assisted reproduction technology, is strictly prohibited”.
Available information indicates that a total of 66 children were born from surrogacy and five children have already left Cambodia, although 32 children, in turn, became criminal children, or mothers, and the whereabouts of the various 29 children are unknown. The Royal Government of Cambodia is in the process of drafting surrogacy regulations, but the content is not open to the public.
Surrogacy Alternatives in Cambodia
Although surrogacy is now banned in Cambodia, the preferred fertility drugs will no longer suffer from the ban. IVF strategies can proceed as planned, oocytes can be imported/exported from the country, and embryos can occasionally be born and transferred to clinics.
The embryo swap method is prohibited only if the recipient is a surrogate. Some suppliers operating exclusively in Cambodia are developing applications to gain coverage by developing border packages near countries including Laos or Malaysia. Some packages are already delivered to fertilize the embryos in Cambodia and then send them to different countries for the surrogate procedure.
Although technically no longer illegal, the system carries serious risks. Reputable practitioners should encourage clients to try rustic with excellent legal guidance and supportive clinical infrastructure for surrogacy.
For couples with little financial means, a possible option would include surrogacy packages near Laos. At least the IVF clinics in Vientiane were opened under the alternative legal guidelines in Thailand.
Now, these clinics may also relocate as places for foster homes are disappearing in Cambodia. Laos sits next to each Cambodia and Thailand, and some traffickers want to use it to cross the border to complete surrogacy strategies. In some cases, cross-border travel can be a major emergency option, although couples aware of surrogacy in Cambodia will need to look outside of Southeast Asia.
Laos is not a permanent answer for surrogate couples in Cambodia. Surrogacy in Thailand was closed after 18 months. Mexico was closed after about 12 months. Nepal closed after about five months. At this rate, we hope that Laos will also soon limit surrogacy.
ARTbaby recommends pursuing surrogacy in the Georgia (where surrogacy fees have dropped significantly) or Ukraine (which has the highest surrogacy support system in the world). Programs in the United States should be available to all couples and are cheaper.
For married couples, surrogacy in Ukraine is the most legally stable and least expensive in the world. For gay couples, independent surrogacy in the United States is the safest and cheapest option available.
Ravi Sharma is a self-motivated, successful entrepreneur and has a solid experience in the fertility segment. and he is the director at ARTbaby Global (ARThealthcare). He is a pharmacy graduate with post-graduation in business administration and has 14 years of rich experience in the field of infertility segment. He loves to write about IVF, Surrogacy, and other ART (assisted reproductive technology) news, issues, and updates. He is a Pharmacy graduate (B. Pharm) and M.B.A (marketing).
His most recent success includes the successful launch of the medical tourism company, ARTbaby, which offers treatment options for infertility, egg donation, and surrogacy. He likes spending time with his family and writing about various aspects of IVF surrogacy and donating eggs.