Offshore Jobs for Surrogate Mothers

It has been always my contention that Globalization and Free Market Economy have tended to benefit only the urban middle and upper classes in developing countries, leaving the rural classes untouched. Outsourcing of IT jobs, for example, have given a better quality of life to the educated people, but the benefits have not trickled down enough to moisten the dry lives of rural farmers. The entry of multinational food marketers (Metro, Tesco..) and seed wholesalers (Monsanto, Advanta, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta…) have brought misery to farmers who have been denied the protective umbrella of the government (with all the liberalizing WTO trade agreements), with no support in the form of credit or infrastructure to store, transport or market the produce. While the farmers are driven to suicide, the IT-fed urbans continue to enjoy McDonald French Fries, pizza form Pizza Hut and Domino and coffee from Barista. Idlis, dosas and chapattis have flown out of Indian menus; pastas and burgers have flown in. The lower strata of society emulates the affluent, so you know what to expect… discontentment, violence, etc.

But now, the marginalized rural women can console themselves that the benefits of globalization have touched their shores as well. Low cost of medical services, easy availability of surrogate wombs and lack of any law to regulate these practices are attracting people with money to surrogate mothers in India. Several agencies, including foreign players, and middle men enter the fray, and women from smaller towns are chosen for the task as they are less likely to question the law. (Read Israeli national Einat Liner (30) helps foreign couples with surrogates in Mumbai).

Poverty has earlier driven people to sell kidneys for survival (Read Kidneys on Sale for Rs. 25000); at least, this is far from being gruesome. Yet many legal, ethical and practical considerations come into play. What happens, for example, if the intended mother refused to take the baby. This happened last year as reported in the video below, as the inteded parents had divorced then, and the Indian laws didn’t permit the child to be handed over to the biological father. Watch the surrogate orphan story here:

The Law Commission in India already initiated the process to enact legislation to regulate Assisted Reproductive technology (ART) clinics, as well as the rights and obligations of parties to a surrogacy.

For an interesting first person account, please read the article from San Francisco Chronicle : Surrogate Mothers: Womb for Rent

Reproductive tourism, outsourcing reproduction…fanciful names, yet fraught with strong emotions. But my worry is that women who do it for financial reasons should benefit by it, and the law, in the name of curbing commercial surrogacy, should not allow another illegal operation to creep in.

Also read : Seeds of Suicide; Seeds of Self Reliance