Surrogacy is the procedure through which a couple or a person can have
another woman to lend her womb to carry and deliver a child. This process
begins by placing a fresh or frozen sperm clinically in the womb of the
surrogate mother.
Surrogacy can be divided into two mainbranches.
In traditional surrogacy, the biological mother carries out a normal
pregnancy and after the birth signs over the parental rights to the intended
parents. This is a similar process to adoption. In gestational surrogacy, the
woman may be biologically unrelated to the child she is carrying. Any surrogate
mother who gets compensation for more than the pregnancy, healthcare, and
living and baby delivery expenses is termed a commercial surrogate mother.
The process of surrogacy is undertaken in cases where the couple cannot
naturally produce a child, or there is some form of deficiency either in the
mother or the father. Even gay and lesbian couples can make use of surrogacy to
have their own child.
Commercial surrogacy in India was legalized in 2002. Since then it has been
one of the fastest growing industries in the country. Women, generally of the
lower-middle and labor classes, take up surrogacy to have additional income for
their families and a better quality of life. Some Indian women are also
pressured by their families to sell their body as a surrogate to provide a
helping hand financially.
Would-be parents in America, Canada, Australia, France, and other western
countries often prefer Indian surrogate mothers, because India provides
cheaper yet modern health care facilities, and because the legal formalities
are much less in India – surrogacy can cost just one fifth what it would in
their own country.
India being a developing country with strong values and ethics still is not
comfortable with the surrogacy culture in its society. It is considered to be a
matter of utter shame and grief for a contemporary Indian couple to be unable
to have a child of their own. At the same hand women who make their womb
available for surrogacy are looked down upon. Yet, for their economic survival,
women of the lower classes take up surrogacy, without being open about it in
society.
According to a survey conducted in 2011, pregnancy outsourcing is a 20
billion rupee industry in India, and is expected to increase to two and a half
times that in 2012.
Commercial surrogacy in India, though legalized, is still considered a black
mark socially. It is not just an aid to the Indian economy, but also a help to
those who live a below-standard life. At the same time, the Indian government
should carry out the legal requirements that ensure a women rendering her womb
has complete knowledge about the procedure, understands the contracts
well, and knows what her body will be going through.
For more information on India contact at info[at]ivfsurrogacy.com
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