The 13 pregnant Filipinas who were convicted of violating strict human trafficking laws in Cambodia are expected to keep their babies as soon as they have served their prison sentences.

This was gathered as the Kandal Provincial Court in Cambodia said the accused may still appeal the verdict that will cause their imprisonment of two years out of the four year prison sentence meted out by the court.

The Filipino women have been arrested and criminally charged for acting as surrogates to bear babies for foreigners in exchange for cash.

Under Cambodia’s laws, they will be allowed to give birth before thrown to prison to serve their sentences.

The court said the verdict grants the accused suspended prison sentences of two years, thus, giving them only two years of prison terms to serve.

The unserved two year imprisonment will be carried out if they are found guilty of committing another crime.

The Filipinas were arrested during a raid conducted by police operatives on a villa in Kandal province last September.

A total 20 of those arrested are Filipinos while four are Vietnamese. The 13 Filipino women were found to be pregnant, thus, were charged in court. The rest were deported to their countries.

Those charged were considered to have conspired with the human trafficking ring by acting as surrogates then allowing their recruiters to sell their babies to foreigners.

Cambodian police said the The leaders of the syndicate behind the illegal operations have yet to be arrested.

Cambodian has become the center of the illegal surrogacy operations after neighboring Thailand, as well as India and Nepal, imposed tight restrictions to prevent the crime.

Clients are mostly from the United States and Australia who prefer developing countries because of the high cost of surrogate services in their countries which can run to about $150,000.