‘A factory to produce babies for sale’: surrogacy remains a lure for Cambodia’s poorest despite ban
Cambodia is one of Asia’s poorest countries with an average annual income of just US$1,150, so nine months of surrogacy might bring in as much as nine years’ salary
Peeling a mango inside her rickety wooden shack, Chhum Long explained how her daughter’s decision to nurture a Western couple’s baby in her womb helped her family buy two desperately needed items: a metal roof and a motorbike.
Last year a broker appeared outside the 60-year-old’s house in Cambodia’s southern Takeo province and offered her daughter US$10,000 to be a surrogate mother for a wealthy foreign couple.
“My daughter immediately agreed with the offer because we are very poor,” she said. “They took the baby away as soon as he was born, she did not even see his face.”
My daughter immediately agreed with the offer because we are very poor. They took the baby away as soon as he was born
It is a little-regulated industry that pairs wealthy foreign couples desperate for a child – paying as much as US$50,000 – with some of the world’s most vulnerable women.