I had written about surrogacy in India a couple months ago, and now the story has cropped up again and is posted all over Western newspapers, though none here that I’m aware of. It’s a familiar tale: rich, Western families have done all they can (and spent tons of money) on trying IVF and alternative methods, and just want a baby so bad they are willing to hire someone else to do it. And it’s a perfect arrangement, because the surrogates are only too willing to earn some relatively quick and easy cash so they can better care for their own families. Why not, if everyone’s helping everyone else? Is it actually help if it’s a paid relationship between unequals?
The article raises some interesting points. What if this practice becomes so widely acceptable that it’s no longer for people who physically can’t conceive, but those who want to avoid the ‘inconvenience’ of pregnancy? As the AP article mentions, this could then lead to competition among clinics and compromised safety measures. The link to prostitution is an easy one—if you can sell your body for sex, why not sell your body for pregnancy for much more (and it may even be more socially acceptable)? It’s true that there’s no easy answer to either of the practices.
It must be recognised that this is a good opportunity for the surrogate mothers, too. They get cared for even better than they do normally–they are waited on instead of waiting on others.
Like some fertility reality show, a rotating cast of surrogate mothers live together in a home rented by the clinic and overseen by a former surrogate mother. They receive their children and husbands as visitors during the day, when they’re not busy with English or computer classes.
“They feel like my family,” said Rubina Mandul, 32, the surrogate house’s den mother. “The first 10 days are hard, but then they don’t want to go home.”
As one doctor says (albeit in a biased manner because she’s profiting from this):
“People are accepting it,” said Hinduja. “Earlier they used to be ashamed but now they are becoming more broadminded.”
Whether or not that makes it ok, it’s likely this practice will continue and become more widespread.
