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Bangkok: A booming surrogacy industry chased out of Thailand and Nepal has turned to Cambodia, where many Australians are ignoring warnings from their own government not to seek surrogacy services.

Up to 20 Australian couples have entered into surrogacy arrangements shrouded in secrecy in Cambodia, and many more have been considering the move, according to sources in Phnom Penh and Australia.

The Australian government's travel advisory smartraveller.gov.au warns the act of commercial surrogacy, or commissioning commercial surrogacy, is illegal in Cambodia, with penalties including imprisonment and fines.

But at least 14 surrogacy clinics and agencies offering services to foreigners have opened in Phnom Penh since Thailand shut down its multimillion-dollar surrogacy industry after the Baby Gammy scandal last year.

Surrogacy groups fear that foreign biological parents and their babies born to surrogate mothers will become entangled in Cambodia's murky and corrupt legal system, where there are no laws dealing directly with surrogacy and Cambodian authorities could treat surrogacy under draconian human trafficking laws.

They also warn that foreign parents engaging with surrogates in the country without legal protection...