Outsourcing Pregnancies to India

Turns out that just about everything these days can and is outsourced to India... including your pregnancy.

From an article from the The Associated Press

"ANAND, India (AP) — Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills.

A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world.

The small clinic at Kaival Hospital matches infertile couples with local women, cares for the women during pregnancy and delivery, and counsels them afterward. Anand's surrogate mothers, pioneers in the growing field of outsourced pregnancies, have given birth to roughly 40 babies.

More than 50 women in this city are now pregnant with the children of couples from the United States, Taiwan, Britain and beyond. The women earn more than many would make in 15 years. But the program raises a host of uncomfortable questions that touch on morals and modern science, exploitation and globalization, and that most natural of desires: to have a family.....

.... Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002, as it is in many other countries, including the United States. But India is the leader in making it a viable industry rather than a rare fertility treatment. Experts say it could take off for the same reasons outsourcing in other industries has been successful: a wide labor pool working for relatively low rates.

Critics say the couples are exploiting poor women in India — a country with an alarmingly high maternal death rate — by hiring them at a cut-rate cost to undergo the hardship, pain and risks of labor....

.... Kailas Gheewala, 25, said she doesn't think of the pregnancy as her own.

"The fetus is theirs, so I'm not sad to give it back," said Gheewala, who plans to save the $6,250 she's earning for her two daughters' education. "The child will go to the U.S. and lead a better life and I'll be happy."

Patel said none of the surrogate mothers has had especially difficult births or serious medical problems, but risks are inescapable.

"We have to be very careful," she said. "We overdo all the health investigations. We do not take any chances."

Health experts expect to see more Indian commercial surrogacy programs in coming years. Dr. Indira Hinduja, a prominent fertility specialist who was behind India's first test-tube baby two decades ago, receives several surrogacy inquiries a month from couples overseas.

"People are accepting it," said Hinduja. "Earlier they used to be ashamed but now they are becoming more broadminded."

But if commercial surrogacy keeps growing, some fear it could change from a medical necessity for infertile women to a convenience for the rich.

"You can picture the wealthy couples of the West deciding that pregnancy is just not worth the trouble anymore and the whole industry will be farmed out," said Lantos....

... For now, the surrogate mothers in Anand seem as pleased with the arrangement as the new parents.

"I know this isn't mine," said Jagrudi Sharma, 34, pointing to her belly. "But I'm giving happiness to another couple. And it's great for me."

From the full article, Click Here
raven says...

Wow... is all I have to say really...

And...

ADOPT DAMN YOU PEOPLE! STOP MAKING MORE PEOPLE AND ADOPT IF YOU WANT A DAMN KID BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO FORK OVER THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!

Gods know there are enough children around the world who need homes.

That is all.

kronosposeidon says...

Dear Lord. *Quality article. I think Gunny's right, raven. It's that "selfish gene" in action for many people. They think they just can't maximize their love to their offspring unless it's carrying some of their DNA. Simplistic explanation, I grant you, but what else could explain it?

raven says...

No, you guys are probably right, for the reasoning behind it, I am sure that has a lot to do with it... that and the innate desire to guarantee the passing of one's own genetic code, which is always a strong instinct in animals.

Farhad2000 says...

Articles like this and many others about other facets of the Indian engine of development show that high exports, rapid urban development, technological progressive industries and outsourcing do not necessarily mean an improvement in the standard of living for all citizens. The same applies to China.

I found it baffling back in college when economists and my fellow students would talk in awe of the economic development of both of these nations, yes on paper they look wonderful as numerical figures however with regards to real tangible economic progress both nations have much more to achieve specifically improvement in basic infrastructure, welfare reforms for the poor, educational reform across the board focusing more on technocratic education not labour based drones and most of all actual re-investment of earned income back into developing the nation itself.

There is a reason most Chinese and Indians who are educated aboard choose to stay abroad instead of going back to their respective nations.

MINK says...

In the Asimov series "Foundation" children of rich people are bred on farms away from their parents.

Asimov was a genius, all you Tesla fans need to realize.

As for adoption... i never heard of a parent regretting it. Quite the opposite.

persephone says...

I agree with Raven, there are plenty of children who need a loving family. Maybe if infertile couples could see themselves as visionary kinds of people, people whose circumstances have offered them the opportunity to do something really big for the sake of humanity. Anyone can breed. But to adopt and to do that well, now that takes courage and patience and a person willing to fill a big pair of shoes.

By choosing to care for the children of others first is taking one big step toward reducing the suffering that arises from institutionalized care, which can only be a good thing for all concerned.

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