Cambodia has introduced new guidelines for children born to commercial surrogates during a period of   “legal limbo’’ after the practice was banned in October, Phnom a Penh Post reported on Wednesday.

The country did not have any laws regarding commercial surrogacy before October, so families whose children were being carried by surrogates at that time fall into a legal grey area.

Under the new law, foreign parents are required to report annually on their children’s health to the Cambodian Government via a foreign embassy, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

In April, the government also required fathers of surrogate-born children to prove their paternity with DNA test and show they can financially support such children.

Related News

Under Cambodian law, the surrogate is automatically recognised as the mother.

The new rules come as Tammy Baker-Charles, an Australian nurse, awaits her sentencing on August 3 for running a commercial surrogacy service that connects foreign couples with local women.

While the company initially operated in a legal grey zone, government charged her retroactively with human trafficking and falsifying documents.

She has been in prison since November 2016. (NAN)