Wombs For Rent

Anand, India - A small clinic at Kaival Hospital in Western India matches infertile couples with local women to have their babies. They care for the woman during pregnancy, during labor, and they provide counseling afterwards.

The program has outsourced about 40 babies so far, to countries such as the U.S., Taiwan, Britain, and others. At this moment, 50 women at the clinic are carrying other couple’s children. They earn more than they would in 15 years with regular jobs, but it brings up questions about morals, modern science, exploitation, and globalization.

The woman behind Anand’s house of surrogates is Dr. Nayna Patel, who fully defends her work. “If this female wants to help the other one…why not allow that?” Patel said.

Commercial surrogacy had been legal in India since 2002, as in many countries including the United States. Critics say couples are exploiting poor women in India – which has an alarming maternal death rate – by hiring them at cut-rate prices to undergo the hardships and risks of labor.

A Los Angeles couple spent $200,000 trying to have a child through in-vitro fertilization, and were considering paying $80,000 to hire a surrogate mother in the United States. Once they found the Indian clinic on the internet, they immediately wanted in on the “baby farm.” Now with their 4-month-old baby, they plan on returning for a second child.

Some of the women plan on saving up for a house and other necessities with the money they receive for being surrogate mothers. Patel only accepts women who are between the ages 18 and 45, and have at least one child of their own.

The pregnant women living in the house provided by Patel are given medical attention; some didn’t even have that with their own children. While living there, their husbands and children have visitation rights during the day.

Counseling is a major part of the process and Patel tells the women to think of the pregnancy as “someone’s child comes to stay at your place for nine months.” Some mothers miss the babies and keep contact with the families through the internet. Others find it easier to live through Patel’s philosophy.