Australian nurse on trial denies running illegal surrogacy operation in Cambodia
Cambodia banned commercial surrogacy after becoming a popular destination for would-be parents seeking women to give birth to their children
An Australian nurse denied running an illegal surrogacy service in Cambodia when her trial began Tuesday, the first case of its kind in the country that recently banned the practice.
Tammy Davis-Charles, 49, was arrested in late November with two Cambodians and accused of recruiting foreign couples and Cambodian surrogate mothers to a clinic in the capital Phnom Penh.
The detentions came just two weeks after Cambodia moved to outlaw the surrogacy industry, which critics say exploits poor women, after a similar ban in neighbouring Thailand pushed the business across its borders.
The trio were also charged with faking documents to obtain birth certificates for the newborns.
In court on Tuesday Davis-Charles said she played no part in arranging surrogacies.
Instead she said her role was limited to providing medical care to a total of 23 surrogate mothers who carried babies for 18 Australian and five American couples.
