Reproductive Tourism in India

chillibreeze writer — Anjana Chetty

“Surrogate mother” is the term used to describe a woman who wishes to relinquish the child she is carrying after its birth. The surrogate mother could be carrying her own biological child, wishing to relinquish the child. In such cases, the child is raised by the biological father and his partner. This is also known as the straight method.

In another alternative and a more common procedure is gestational surrogacy where the surrogate is pregnant with a child through an embryo transfer. Here she will relinquish the child to the biological parents once the child is conceived. When the surrogate mother does not receive any monetary gain form the process it is know as altruistic surrogacy. However, more often than not surrogate mothers are reimbursed for their services. The term used to describe this form of surrogacy is ‘Commercial Surrogacy’.

Commercial surrogacy is illegal in a number of countries like France and Italy. But it has been made legal in few countries like India. The chief factor behind this being;

- High international demand
- Easy availability of poor surrogate mothers

Following these conditions surrogate motherhood also known as ‘Reproductive Tourism’ has become a booming business in India. It has become a billion Dollar business and is fast growing into an industry.

The Procedure

The couples are usually childless parents who have tried all possible fertility treatments and failed. The reason this method is preferred over adoption is the genes and ethnic factor. Another important factor why more and more couples are looking at India is the cost involved. The cost of the medical procedures, surrogacy with the cost of foreign stay and travel is a fractional of what it would amount to in the United States. What costs almost $70,000 in USA, costs only $12,000 in India. Factors like availability of English speaking medical procedures and high quality health care only adds to the allure.

The surrogate mothers more often than not are women from the lower-strata and poor financial background. The core motive for these women to become surrogates is the monetary reimbursement that they receive. This is any where between 3000 to 6000 dollars.

There are clinics and doctors completely dedicated to this. One such example is Anand a village in Gujarat. Here a number of women form the lower income group have taken to surrogacy to solve their financial woes. The women are between the age group of 18-45 years and usually have children of their own. Stringent procedures are used while choosing a candidate for surrogacy and they are given medical care during and after the pregnancy. They are housed in a dormitory within the clinic where their health is constantly monitored. They are given meals, counseling and encouraged to take up activates like learning English, using computers etc.

The surrogate mother and the couple are usually bound by a legal contract. The contract states that the surrogate mother will hand over the child to the parents after birth. The parents on their part agree to pay for all the medical procedures and reimburse the surrogate mother. Most surrogate mothers think of themselves as sheltering another women’s child. They also believe that they are doing a good deed by helping another women enjoy the joys of motherhood. They focus on how the money will help their own family and children.

Though the process has numerous positive points to it, it raises a number of questions.

First and foremost are the ethical factors. Pregnancy is a known health risk. Especially in India where there is high infant mortality rate and pregnancy related deaths. Also pregnancy causes high physical and mental strain on the body. All this makes it difficult to think of commercial surrogacy as a simple and harmless practice where both parties are at gain.
There are now stringent laws guiding this process and the ones in place can no longer be applicable. There is a need for the governments of both India and Western countries to build laws that will safeguard the parents and surrogate mother.
Also with commercial surrogacy reaching industry proportions, there is a greater likely hood of medical negligence, as clinics will compete to provide lower costs, putting the health of the surrogate mother and child into danger.

Surrogate motherhood has its positive and negative factors. It is hard to take a stance for it or against it. But what is immediately required are laws that will keep pace with the fast changing world, ensuring that all parties are at gain and preventing any form of exploitation.

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—About our writer:

Anjana says, "I am an artist interested in painting and writing. For me each is medium for expressing my observation of the world and my reaction to it. Writing just an extension of myself and I hope to integrate writing and painting in my art practice."

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