PEOPLE AND THEIR PROBLEMS

New Delhi, 29 February 2008

Rent A Womb

NOW BABY FARMS IN INDIA?

By Radhakrishna Rao

In the popular epic Mahabharat, there is a clear reference to the episode of surrogate motherhood. Centuries later, it has become a big business opportunity for a section of fertility specialists based in major cities in India. Moreover, with the national guidelines for stem cell research and therapy, put in place by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to permit the creation of embryo for research, India is too on its way to becoming a “hub of embryo outsourcing”.  

Of late, many affluent but barren foreign and NRI couples are zeroing in on India for embryo outsourcing. “It could well lead to widespread trading in human embryos from a developing country like ours”, says well-known legal expert Sangeetha Udgaonkar.  As it is, fertility clinics in major cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore handle a substantial number of cases of surrogacy with well-documented legal contracts.

According to fertility specialists, there are two types of surrogacy: straight and gestational. While in the former, the sperm of intended father would be used to inseminate the surrogate, in the latter, the egg and the sperm of the intended parents are fertilized externally and the resulting embryo is transferred to the uterus of the surrogate mother. However, on its part, the American Supreme Court has ruled that surrogacy contracts are “potentially dangerous to women” while coming to the conclusion that surrogacy arrangements would be acceptable only if these are without any commercial or financial motives.

Clearly, these days surrogacy motherhood has become one more addition to a range of services that an employment agency offers to its clients. The only difference being that the role of the employment agency is being substituted by the fast mushrooming fertility clinics in the country. In most cases, the couples who have remained childless on medical grounds approach fertility clinics, which in turn arrange surrogate mothers and undertake the entire range of medical services for a fee.

The surrogate mother arranged by the fertility clinic will undergo artificial insemination and carry the child till the pregnancy term and subsequently hand over the new born to the parents. But there should be a clear warning--in many cases, the surrogate mothers who carry the child for a price undergo psychological trauma after giving up the child to the commissioning parents.

Regrettably, India lacks a well-defined law governing surrogacy, whereas the US has a law that doesn’t permit compensation over and above medical expanses. The Christian fundamentalist groups in the US which are already crusading against legal abortions, are up in arms against surrogacy. They argue that moral and ethical fallouts of surrogate motherhood in the long run could adversely impact the overall social well-being.

Meanwhile, experts point out to the systematic ascendancy of commercial surrogacy, which in simple language translates into “womb for rent”. For example, Dr. Kamini Rao, who runs a widely popular fertility clinic in Bangalore attributes the increase in the cases of surrogacy to the spreading awareness. “Give it five years more and it will be in great demand. The indications for going in for surrogacy will change and people will ask for it like tonsil or appendicitis operations.” opines Dr. Rao.

Mumbai-based fertility expert Dr Indira Hinduja, who is credited with bringing to birth the country’s first test tube baby, some two decades ago, gets several enquiries from barren couples overseas. “People are accepting it. Earlier, they used to be ashamed but now they are more broad-minded” she observes.

All very well. But there is a growing concern over the poor regulation of surrogacy business in the country. As such, a section of medical experts have highlighted the urgency for a legislation designed to protect the surrogate mothers and children. Besides, there is a growing fear that if commercial surrogacy keeps growing, it could in due course change from a medical necessity for infertile couples to a convenience for the rich.

“You can picture the wealthy couples of the West, deciding that pregnancy is just not worth the trouble and the entire industry based on the hiring of wombs would receive greater patronization” says Dr. John Lantos of the Centre for Practical Bioethics, Kansas City, US. He is of view that this business of hiring wombs zeros in on the creation of baby farms in developing countries.

Like a dark horse, the small township of Anand, South Gujarat, which in the 60s had created history by being the cradle of white revolution in India, has now emerged as a major centre of surrogacy as highlighted by a number of fertility clinics offering their services to wealthy and issueless foreign couples. Significantly, the number of successful surrogate deliveries in Anand is claimed to be the highest in the world. Not surprisingly, wealthy couples make a beeline to Anand all the way from the US, Taiwan, Germany and South Korea.

At the fertility clinics in Anand issueless couples look forward to the joy of parenthood. Once a surrogate mother is identified, the couple signs a legal contract with her which covers the details of monetary compensation she would receive for the service. To begin with, the semen and eggs of the couple are collected, fertilized and then injected into the womb of the chosen surrogate. If the surrogate mother fails to conceive, she gets a nominal compensation. However, if she conceives and delivers the baby she gets the contracted amount upon handing over the child to the parents.

Most of these surrogate mothers hail from the lower rungs of society. They are keen on improving their standard of life through the compensation they get from commissioning parents. However, there have been cases of surrogate mothers facing social ostracism. As such, many surrogate of them seek to keep things under wraps as they don’t want to victims of social stigma.

According to Prof. P.J .Patel, well-known sociologist and former Vice-Chancellor of Sardar Patel University at Vallabh Vidyanagar near Anand, the increasing surrogacy in Anand mirrors the people’s need for money. He says everyone here wants to lead a decent life. And that in part explains why surrogacy is catching up. India, can now boast of more than 350 Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) clinics offering a range of reproductive service including surrogate birth. --- INFA

 (Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)