India seeks to regulate surrogacy amidst new data showing woman are being exploited to carry children.
"There is a need to regulate the sector," Dr. Sudhir Ajja of Surrogacy India, a Mumbai-based fertility bank, told Reuters. "But if the new law tightens rules as suggested by the ministry of home affairs, which disallows surrogacy for same-sex couples and single parents, then it will clearly impact the industry and put off clients coming from overseas."
According to Reuters, a government-funded study of 100 surrogate mothers in Delhi and Mumbai found there was "no fixed rule" for healthcare post-delivery or a set monetary compensation rate. There were some cases where surrogate mothers were implanted with multiple embryos to increase chances of pregnancy.
"In most of these cases, the surrogate mothers are being exploited," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research that conducted the study.
However, the San Francisco Chronicle reports there are many couples in need of a surrogate who are willing to dish out big bucks to clinics. Surrogate mothers at the Akanksha clinic see a large pay day for donating their uterus for a couple in need.
"At the Akanksha clinic in Anand, a city of 200,000 an hour and a half northeast of Khambhat, a surrogate who successfully gives birth earns the equivalent of at least $7,500. Twins bring an extra $1,500 to $2,000. It is a life-changing sum," according to the Chronicle.
"The surrogates in Anand have become empowered through giving this beautiful gift to others," Akanksha's owner, IVF specialist Nayana Patel, who received attention after using a child's grandmother as a surrogate, told Reuters. "With the money, they are able to buy a house, educate their children and even start a small business. These are things they could only dream of before. It's a win-win situation."
Read the Reuters full report about "rent-a-womb" industry here.
