An Australian woman charged with providing commercial surrogacy services in Cambodia said Tuesday she launched her business only after consulting three local lawyers who assured her that her clinic was legal. Cambodia banned commercial surrogacy last year after becoming a popular destination for would-be parents seeking women to give birth to their children. 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 neighboring Thailand. ———This story has been corrected to show Davis-Charles described herself as a nurse, not a physician.

Source: ABC News June 13, 2017 03:51 UTC