SYDNEY: A New Zealand woman has been convicted of criminal activity after selling unborn babies in California, media reports said on Saturday. The woman, Carla Lee Chambers, is now in prison after a San Diego court convicted the woman for surrogacy-related crimes she committed back in New Zealand. According to reports on the case, Chambers sold parental rights to unborn children in the US for five years, working alongside prominent international surrogacy attorney Theresa Erickson and Maryland attorney Hilary Neiman. Californian law forbids the sale of parental rights, but permits surrogacy where an agreement between the carrier of the baby and the intended parents was made before any embryonic transfer. The women created an inventory of unborn babies they could sell for $120,000 each once parents were found. Chambers found women who would be sent to the Ukraine for embryonic transfer where an embryo is transferred into a surrogate's uterus to establish a pregnancy. The women were paid up to $60,000 if they successfully gave birth. If the pregnancy made it through to its third trimester, Chambers would find prospective parents to buy the unborn babies. Parents were told the babies were from a legitimate surrogacy arrangement and the original parents had pulled out. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/7fSbT Tags: Babies, California, New Zealand, Surrogate Section: Latest News, Oceana, Women
