An Australian nurse and fertility specialist has been arrested by anti-human trafficking police for allegedly running a surrogacy clinic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Nine News reported Tammy Davis-Charles, 49, was arrested on Friday during a raid that saw two other individuals detained at a rented house.
The arrests come just weeks after the Cambodian government declared a ban on commercial surrogacy.
Head of the Anti-Human Trafficking Office Police Colonel Keo Thea confirmed the arrest to the AFP on Sunday.
“She has been arrested for being an intermediary in surrogacy and for falsifying documents,” Keo Thea said.
“Australian people who wanted kids would contact her and she would charge US$50,000 for each request.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Davis-Charles was a mother to twin boys, conceived through surrogacy in Thailand.
The Police Colonel told the AFP the nurse had arranged for 23 Cambodian women to carry children for Australian couples since moving to Cambodia from Thailand over a year ago.
"Five babies have been born," he said.
The Melbourne woman faces up to two years in jail if she is convicted of allegedly engaging in surrogacy and allegedly falsifying documents.
Top Comments
I hope she is convicted. How disgusting to use poor women as baby farms.