The Issue of Surrogacy
January 5th, 2010
Every year my family goes to Seattle for Christmas and stays at my Grandmother’s beach house. My grandmother is no longer with us, but many of her old books, papers, and magazines still are. Christmas morning I was anxiously awaiting our family ritual of breakfast and presents when I flipped open a Marie Claire Magazine from August 2007. In it, I found an article titled “Womb for Rent,” which highlighted a growing fad of outsourcing pregnancy to India.
My initial reaction was that outsourcing had gone too far and that this is just one more way to exploit women in developing countries. However, after reading further, this does not appear to be the case. A Doctor by name Nanya Patel belonging to Anand, a town of 150,000 in India’s Western State of Gujarat, has single handedly set up a surrogacy clinic in this rural-dairy community. Want-to-be mothers from all over the world come to the clinic to have a local Indian woman carry their child for the bargain price of $25,000-$30,000. This covers a fee for the surrogate, all doctor’s bills, flights, and excellent prenatal care for the surrogate in her months of pregnancy. In America the surrogacy process costs upwards of $70,000.
At the time of the article, Dr. Patel has had 45 successful births and is very picky about both her clients and her carriers. She will only take couples that are married and have tried to have children themselves. The women are ovulating and producing eggs normally, but had problems with their uterus, so carrying a child is out of the question. The surrogates must have all had children before so they know what to expect, and be willing themselves to carry another (not pressured by their husbands or in-laws). The carriers receive a fee of $5,500 or more (more than many could earn in 10 years) for the use of their uterus, and that money is held for them until they are ready to put it towards whatever they choose for. Education for their children and a new home that won’t corrode during the monsoon season are among the most common uses of the surrogacy money.
It sounds ok right? - Women helping women conceive children and women helping women raise the standard of living for children. So far, at Dr. Patel’s clinic, it’s been ok; however there are very few governmental restrictions/regulations regarding surrogacy in India and Dr. Patel believes this is a problem. While she has harbored a safe and empowering environment for the mothers and carriers at her clinic, in a growing industry many other doctors may not. There could very well be clinics that will offer poor and unsafe conditions and take advantage of both parties involved.The New York Times also covered Dr. Patel’s clinic in a March 2008 article that discusses many of the same sentiments and concerns for the surrogates (Click Here).
With an increasing amount of surrogate pregnancies in India, should there be more regulation to ensure protection for the surrogates? Is it really exploiting Indian women or empowering them? If it continues to grow, is there a chance that it could exploit Indian women? Is this an abuse of power and money, or a way to create a mutually beneficial relationship?
-Lindsay Leaver
Entry Filed under: 2010 Student Blogs, India, Misc.
7 Comments Add your own
1. Kirk Story | January 6th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Interesting post Lindsay. The questions at the end of your post provide food for thought. Using your questions, reply’s have been crafted in coherence with my personal worldview which is simply that- one worldview.
With an increasing amount of surrogate pregnancies in India, should there be more regulation to ensure protection for the surrogates? Yes, it appears that regulation in the surrogate business can’t hurt. The ‘greed-ethic’, not the ‘care ethic,’ prevails in our current model of capitalism. As we have observed in the subprime debacle or the suddenly righteous US health insurance industry, it’s only a matter of time/money before humans lose sight of basic values- like goodwill of their fellow citizens, and begin to imagine all the precious trinkets they may stuff in their pockets. Due to the delicate circumstances of surrogate pregnancies, it only seems appropriate to regulate a potential ‘free-market’ surrogate dealer from getting out of hand. Judging by your article, Dr. Patel would not have any hang-ups with these regulations.
Is it really exploiting Indian women or empowering them? If it continues to grow, is there a chance that it could exploit Indian women? Is this an abuse of power and money, or a way to create a mutually beneficial relationship? The warranted response to all three of your final questions is the same. Exploitation or empowerment rests in the implementation of a proper standard of conduct in the surrogate business. Mutually beneficial outcomes are attainable if the greed ethic does not prevail in the surrogate marketplace.
2. Surrogacy in India | January 9th, 2010 at 5:03 am
This was a wonderful opertunity for the mothers who could not able to give birth.Thanks for sharing.
3. Emily Schaapveld | February 11th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Very interesting article. You asked if there should more regulation in this potentially growing market and my opinion is absolutely. However, as for the couple using the surrogate, they would be wise to do all of their research on the clinic and then more. Just because a clinic claims to be following regulations, it does not mean that it has not found ways to get through loopholes with lower standards.
In response to your question about empowering women or exploiting them, I feel that as long as surrogacy is not forced upon any of the women, then it is empowering them. In a country flooded with poverty, mothers must realize opportunities to break the cycle for their families. If being a surrogate mother allows one women to send her children to college and another women to experience the joys of motherhood, then the practice is a blessing for both.
4. William Ary | February 11th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
This is typical of all ethical dilemmas. The issue is that people are doing something for money that others think should not be done for money. This is a result of two different value sets and two different economic circumstances. I think it is unfortunate, the economics are hard to refute. I know some people who are surrogates in the US and they simply need the money more than they need room in their uteruses, so I assume the same is even more true in India.
Personally, I think people have the right to use their bodies to do whatever they want, as long as they don’t hurt anyone. Naysayers have no right to tell them what they should do or say that they know better. All we can do is educate the women so that they can make their own decisions. The real ethical problem I have with baby outsourcing is that people are trying to foist their own morality on others.
5. John Barry | February 15th, 2010 at 12:33 am
I see absolutely nothing wrong with Indian women choosing to carry someone else’s baby for profit. If doing this will allow them to give their children a better life then I’m all for it. My only concern is that these women are being paid very large sums of money by Indian standards, and this runs the risk of attracting unwanted attention from people looking to exploit the system by essentially “pimping” out women, taking their money, and turning them into baby factories regardless of how they may feel about it so as to get their cut. Doctor Patel, however, seems to have an answer to this by not only being very selective about who she picks as surrogates, but by also holding onto their $5,500 fee until they are ready to put it towards something, rather than just setting them loose with a ton of cash and a bright red bull’s eye on their back.
6. Danielle Steussy | February 15th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I suppose I don’t see this as empowering or exploiting women in India but rather giving them an opportunity for a better life and a much-wanted baby for those couples who are unfortunately unable to conceive. Ultimately, this clinic and others like it allow a woman to have what she otherwise cannot do for herself in a safe environment.
I do agree with John, however, that there is potential for women to be exploited and used in these situations by greedy people who want to make a buck for themselves. Unfortunately, this happens all the time and the solution may just lie in stricter regulations or creating different incentives other than money for these women such as a safe haven, daily necessities or education. Either way, I think we have to realize that there is potential for unethical behavior and instead of pretending the problem isn’t there, find an appropriate solution that promotes responsible behavior.
7. Frederick Peemoeller | March 11th, 2010 at 10:05 am
I actually wonder more about the political and greed aspect of these ventures than the ethical ones. Imagine if surrogacy in India becomes more widespread. Since they are born in India, these children are citizens, and they are born from the womb of an Indian woman. I am sure it is difficult for any woman to give up a child even though it is not hers, and since these women supposedly cannot have children it gives them more of an incentive to try to keep them. Who is to say that they cannot? What rights do foreign tourists have to try to take their babies away? Wouldn’t the Indian government catch on to this investment and try to add on a tariff or tax for exporting babies out of their country? I could definitely see this subject being an issue not just ethically, but also politically as well.
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