You want a baby? No problem.
Let’s go buy one. Yes it is possible now in India. With the growing number of
people getting married later in life. With women having to put off any thought
of having a family because it is so important to get a college degree to
be able to get a good paying job in the future. There are more same sex couples
now. People experiencing fertility issues and even just not wanting to carry
your own child, there has been a demand for gestational surrogacy. But with a
price tag of over $100,000 dollars, many prospective parents are being forced to
look elsewhere around the globe to find a cheaper option to have a child.
To accommodate this rapidly growing business, over 3,000 clinics have been created. One of them is the Kiran Infertility Center. There Dr. Samit Sekhar the Chief Embryologist explains the process. He says, “The surrogate mother never has a genetic link to the baby that is born. She is carrying the pregnancy. The egg will be from the genetic mother. The sperm will be from the genetic father. People like to call it a baby factory or a baby farm. Like it’s some sci-fi novel from the early 80’s where there is some mad scientist creating embryos and just churning out babies.” It sounds like this Doctor has some guilt about his work when in fact he can create as many babies as he wants too.
The turnover is about 10 minutes
where the babies are whisked away to the parents. What draws the women to
surrogacy? As usual money. There is no occupation for a woman for them to earn
so much money in such a short time. Over the nine month period the make about
$10,000. With carrying twins, $12,000. Before becoming a surrogate most young
women did not have a job or income. Throughout the 9 months the women stay in
dorm rooms with other surrogates. None of the women like or are proud of what
they are doing but they realize that if they put their bodies through this,
then they can afford a home of their own. Dr. Ranana Kimari is the Director of Woman’s
Rights at the Center for Social Research and tells us that the industry is not
regulated without any kind of law. Most of the women who do this are from very
poor backgrounds. The doctors take no
responsibility for any complications. The health risks are not covered. The
commercialization is based on an exploitative system.
The women leave all family for
the 9 months and that is difficult for them and depression for carrying a baby
they will never see is disturbing for them. Recruiters go into the slums to
find women. Agents who find willing women take big commissions that the women
don’t even know about. Sometimes as much as $3,000 per baby maker. Sigh! Most
women can’t read the contracts they are signing and don’t even receive a copy
of the contract. If she is duped or if something has gone wrong with the
payment, there is no legal means to claim their fee meanwhile they will forever
have the scar from the cesarean birth forever. Yes, corruption exists. When will the United
Nations address this issue?
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