Thursday, November 05, 2015

India throws out the baby with the bathwater...

India’s thriving US$2.3 billion rent-a-womb industry, the go-to destination for thousands of foreign couples seeking surrogacy at relatively cheap rates, is in danger after the government said it would seek to outlaw the procedure.

In an affidavit to the Supreme Court last week, the government stated it would henceforth “prohibit and penalize commercial surrogacy services” to protect the “dignity of Indian womanhood” and to prevent “trafficking in human beings” and the sale of surrogate children.

The proposed ban has outraged feminists who say the ban would disempower many Indian women who are happy renting their wombs. Many of them see this as a legitimate way to earn some extra money (US$10,000 to 20,000 per transaction) to meet financial goals such as children’s education or buying a house. So, they argue, what right does the state, which has not been able to present them with alternate opportunities for a better life, have to snatch away this choice?

If the decision is upheld, international clients who form the bulk of customers at hundreds of registered IVF clinics across the country will be barred from renting wombs from surrogate mothers. Only needy infertile Indian couples, non-resident Indians and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origin) would be able to opt for altruistic or non-commercial surrogacy. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Wombs for rent: India's surrogate mother boomtown...
  2. The British babies made in India...
  3. Wombs for rent: Indian surrogate mothers tell their tales...
  4. I’ve fathered 16 children but I’m still a virgin at 36...
  5. World's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown... 
  6. A baby made in India: American couple's dream come true...
  7. When India's poor hire out their wombs as surrogate mothers...

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