Illegal surrogacy in Laos punishable by up to 19 years in jail, govt warns as cases reported

2017 FILE PHOTO: 'Wombs for rent' business flourishing in communist Laos. - Reuters

VIENTIANE: The authorities have issued a stern warning against any form of surrogacy services in Laos, saying that perpetrators could be given prison sentences of up to 19 years and fined up to 400 million kip (US$0.019 million).

The warning was issued after many cases were reported and processed. In 2018 and 2019, authorities detected numerous advertisements promoting illegal surrogacy services, leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects in five human trafficking cases.