[Read coverage of this story in Lao]
Last year, an acquaintance approached Mali* with a proposition. A wealthy Chinese couple unable to conceive was looking for a surrogate from Laos. The going rate, about $6,000 to $7,000 plus daily spending money, represented a significant sum in a country where the monthly minimum wage is $82.
“My friend used to be a surrogate mother, so she asked me if I wanted to be. I wanted to earn money,” Mali told RFA in an interview. “I wanted the money to build my own house.”
At a clinic in Boten, which sits just across the border from China’s Yunnan province, a team of Chinese doctors deemed Mali fit for surrogacy and implanted her with a fertilized embryo. She was then moved to what she described as a “luxury hotel.”
There, alongside women from Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, Mali began her nine-month wait.
Surrogacy in Laos is illegal, but that has not prevented a shadow industry from taking hold. With its proximity to China, steep rates of poverty and high levels of corruption, the country has become the latest in Southeast Asia to attract those seeking commercial surrogates.
Today, brokers routinely advertise for surrogates on Facebook. In one post, a broker promises up to 50,000 Chinese yuan ($6,890), with all expenses covered. Another promises 45,000 yuan, including an upfront payment of 3,000 yuan and more than $500 a month extra.
“An air-conditioned room is provided,” the advertisement boasts.
![This ad seeking a surrogate was posted on Facebook on Jan. 29, 2025. It reads “A surrogate is needed. The compensation is 45,000 Chinese yuan. 3,000 Chinese yuan can be paid a month in advance. There is extra pay for food of 3 million [Lao kip] per month. An air-conditioned room is provided, plus there is extra pay for food and another monthly payment of 12 million [kip] per month.](https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/THIUKH4V65CY7P7K7HHZWUG2VQ.png?auth=d762fd116c8363db88505c804584a9f46fd33d25f355652faa015ba87a8807fb&width=800&height=686)
Thailand banned commercial surrogacy in 2015, and Cambodia followed suit a year later, while surrogacy in Vietnam has been banned — with some exceptions — since 2003. Although all three countries have continued to see cases of illegal surrogacy, Laos was the sole regional gray-zone destination, with surrogacy neither regulated nor outright banned.
In July 2021, the government outlawed commercial surrogacy, but with the infrastructure already in place, such legislation does not appear to have halted the industry.
As with the brokers, fertility clinics continue to advertise surrogacy services in Laos. One Chinese service with programs in Laos and Kazakhstan promises a “fully-operated” medical center, unlimited attempts at a successful birth and a full refund if an infant fails to materialize. Packages begin at $60,000.
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Mali, who spoke with RFA on the condition of anonymity because of the illegal nature of the work, offers a rare insight into how the cross-border industry operates.
The team that handled Mali’s in vitro fertilization was made up of Chinese doctors and nurses, with a Lao interpreter providing support and helping arrange paperwork. Two months after the successful implantation of the embryo, Mali began traveling to China each month for checkups.
Mali said she was given a border pass, which helped her get past border guards who have been trying to crack down on cases of Lao women being trafficked into China by marriage brokers.
“The immigrant police officers tend to investigate any young Lao women who use a passport for crossing to China,” Mali explained to RFA.
After the checkups in China, Mali would return via the same border crossing and continue to wait out her days in the hotel, where healthcare workers were on hand to keep an eye on the surrogates’ health.
“The Chinese will pay for all fees like food, facilities, checkup fee, hospital fee and other fees. The surrogate woman does not need to be responsible for anything,” she said. “The only requirement is that the girl must be healthy.”
The 2021 law on the management of surrogacy and abortion deems altruistic surrogacy legal for married Lao couples unable to conceive naturally, but dictates that the surrogate must be a married maternal relative, aged 18 to 35, and free of a number of health conditions.
“The law does not allow Lao women to carry a pregnancy for other people,” said a Lao public security officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media. “They are not allowed to carry babies for foreigners including the Chinese. If it happens that means it is happening illegally.”
Violating the law is dangerous. Facebook ads calling for surrogates attract commentators who point out the illegality of the practice. A local newspaper recently posted the human trafficking law under which surrogates can be prosecuted. With fines ranging from $450 to $45,000 and prison sentences from 5 years to life, the risks for would-be surrogates are incredibly steep.
Then, there is the physical and sometimes emotional burden.
And yet, women keep signing up, desperate for the opportunity a few thousand dollars might provide.
At the end of January, Mali gave birth by C-section. All she knew about the parents was what the broker had shared — they were rich and couldn’t conceive. What she knew about the baby was what she saw in the briefest of moments before he was taken away: He was a boy, and he looked Chinese.
“I know it is not my gene, but I carried the baby,” she said. “I saw the baby growing up everyday. I started to cry seeing the baby taken away.”
Translated by Khamsao Civilize. Additional reporting by Abby Seiff. Edited by Abby Seiff and Jim Snyder.
*Name has been changed for security reasons.