Number
of educated women willingto rent out their wombs is on the rise; many use the
money to start a business,educate their children or invest in property, say
infertility experts
Mona Mahta a-28-year-old woman with a BCom degree,
earned lakhs of rupees in eight months.
She is using the money to not only educate her two
daughters but also prepare for examination to get a bank job. But Mehta she is
not just another working mother. She is a surrogate mom.
With Ahmedabad ranking only second to Anand in
handling surrogacy cases in India, several young and educated women like Mona
are renting their wombs to earn money. With the money they earn, some start
their own business, educate children or invest it in property.
Despite her Bachelor's degree, Mona who hails from
Madhya Pradesh could not land a job of her choice as she did not know
Gujarati. Her husband drives an autorickshaw and has to spend part of his
income on paying the rental for the vehicle which leaves the family with
limited cash. That is, till Mona opted for rent her womb to a foreign couple as
a quick and legal alternative to make money.
“I have more than 150 surrogate mothers at my centre,
of which 10 are graduates. They let out the wombs with their family's
permission. More and more young educated women are opting for this method to
improve their socioeconomic status,“ said Dr Kamini Mehta, infertility expert
at Vani Hospital.Sushma Prajapati, 20, is BEdqualified and has already given birth
to two surrogate children.“Her husband's income is inadequate to run the family
and she cannot afford to leave her only child alone at home so she opted for
surrogacy,“ said the doctor.She also gave the example of Preeti Desai, a double
graduate, whose husband is a computer trainer. She recently registered herself
at an IVF clinic for surrogacy. “As surrogate mothers are also provided with
medical insurance worth lakhs, which they can claim during any medical
emergency even after delivery, women are willing to rent their wombs,“ experts
said.
INVESTING IN FUTURE
This has opened a wide range of opportunities for
educated women. Geeta Solanki, 23, started a catering business with the money
she received after renting her womb twice. “She has hire 50 girls to help her
with the business. She also extended monetary assistance to the family during
the marriage of her sister-in-law,“ revealed Dr Mehta.
She added that even women who dropped out of school
are learning English to communicate with the biological parents, usually
foreigners.Surrogate mother Neha Jalla has studied till Class 8. “She is now
learning English so that when the couple asks her about their baby, she can
speak to them without the help of a mediator,“ said Dr Mehta.
BABY FACTORY
India first opened its gate to surrogacy in 2002
along with a few countries like Georgia, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine, and a
few US states where women could be paid to carry others' biological children. A
UNbacked study in July 2012 estimated the surrogacy business at more than $400
million a year in India with over 3,000 fertility clinics across the country.
Currently, surrogacy brings millions of rupees to the
country and according to medical experts, Around 80 per cent of this money
comes to Gujarat.For every delivery, couples give the mothers anything between
Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. Besides, according to their agreement, the couple also
pays for the daily expenses of the surrogate mother until the baby is born.
(Names of surrogate mothers changed to protect their
identity)
A PROFESSION?
Gita Aravamudan, writer of `Baby Maker' a book on
surrogacy which is based on a research for two years across several cities
including Ahmedabad, said that many young and educated women are getting into
the business which with passing time is changing into a profes sion.
“Previously, there were many misconceptions about surrogacy but with spreading
awareness, educated women who cannot go out to work are also getting into
surrogacy,“ she told Mirror.For every de livery, a surrogate mother is paid
between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.
According to surrogacy law, a woman can conceive
thrice with a gap of 2-3 years. So, a woman sitting at home can earn somewhere
Rs12 to Rs 15 lakh in just 21 months. “The sum is alluring. It is what is at
tracting more and more women to let out their wombs,“ she added.
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