AN AUSTRALIAN nurse charged with providing commercial surrogacy services in Cambodia has told a court she has “lost everything” since her arrest eight months ago and is suffering from cancer.
Cambodia banned commercial surrogacy last year after becoming a popular destination for would-be parents seeking women to give birth to their children.
Tammy Davis-Charles, who was arrested in November, has said in previous court appearances that she launched her business, Fertility Solutions PGD, in Cambodia only after consulting three local lawyers who assured her the clinic was legal.
Tammy Davis-Charles told a court she has “lost everything” since her arrest. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
The surrogates were paid $10,000 for each pregnancy, she has said.
On Monday, 49-year-old Davis-Charles wept as she told a court she has cancer in her left eye and wants to be reunited with her family in Australia, including her five-year-old twin sons.
“I lost 20 kilos. I have left eye cancer. My youngest sons said they didn’t see their mother coming home,” Davis-Charles told the court, according to Fairfax Media. “I have lost everything for what I have done.”
The judge adjourned the case until August 3.
Australian Tammy Davis-Charles, right, hides her face as she enters the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Picture: AP Photo/Heng SinithSource:AP
Developing countries are popular for surrogacy because costs are much lower than in nations such as the United States and Australia, where surrogate services are around $150,000.
The surrogacy business boomed in Cambodia after it was put under tight restrictions in neighbouring Thailand. There also were crackdowns in India and Nepal.
After Cambodia’s crackdown, the trade has shifted to neighbouring Laos.