Surrogacy in India - Get a Womb!

Introduction

In ancient times surrogacy cases were rarely spoken about and were never documented. Traces and hints of surrogacy can be found in Mahabharata[1], in relation to the birth of Balaram, the brother of Krishna[2]. The earliest clear record of surrogacy can be found in the bible in which the story of Abraham and Sarah[3] mentions that Sarah had experienced infertility, and asked her handmaiden, Hagar, to carry a child for her and Abraham[4]. Since biblical times, there have probably been many such surrogate pregnancies. But it is not until the late 1970s that anything is recorded again[5]. In 1976, lawyer Noel Keane brokered the first legal agreement between a set of intended parents and a traditional surrogate mother[6]. The surrogate mother did not receive compensation for this. Commercial surrogacy was first recorded in 1980 when Elizabeth Kane received compensation for surrogacy.[7]

The Basics of Surrogacy

Surrogacy is the practice whereby
one woman carries a child for another with the intention that the child should be handed over after birth[8].The word ‘surrogate’ has its origin in Latin ‘surrogatus’, past participle of ‘surrogare’, meaning a substitute, that is, a person appointed to act in the place of another. From this the definition of surrogacy can be said to be, a recognized method of reproduction whereby a woman agrees to become pregnant for the purpose of gestating and giving birth to a child she will not raise but hand over to a contracted party.[9] She may be the child's genetic mother (the more traditional form of surrogacy) or she may, as a gestational carrier, carry the pregnancy to delivery after having been implanted with an embryo. In some cases surrogacy is the only available option for parents who wish to have a child that is biologically related to them.[10]If the pregnant woman takes compensation for carrying and delivering the child (other than medical and other reasonable costs) the procedure is called a commercial surrogacy, otherwise the procedure is referred to as an altruistic surrogacy.[11]

Surrogacy in India and their effects on the Western World

India does not yet have a legislation controlling surrogacy. Though surrogacy is not illegal in India, it does not have an exact law governing it. Article 16.1 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 says, inter alia, that “men and women of full age without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion have the right to marry and found a family”[12]. The Judiciary in India too has recognized the reproductive right of humans as a basic right.[13]

Aamir Khan’s son was born on 1^st December 2011, through IVF to a surrogate mother at a private clinic in Mumbai. The couple resorted to IVF due to medical complications.

Earlier, Aamir announced the news by saying, “Due to medical complications, we were advised to go for IVF- Surrogacy. We are absolutely delighted. This baby is very dear to us as we’ve got him after a lot of difficulty. We are so happy and would like to thank all our well-wishers.” They tied the knot in 2005. In 2009, Kiran got pregnant, but she had a miscarriage. However, the couples claim they feel ‘blessed’ with the new-born[14].

India’s first gestational surrogacy took place in 1994 in Chennai[15]. In 1997, a woman from Chandigarh in India approved to carry a child for 50,000 rupees in order to gain medical treatment for her paralyzed husband[16]. The Andhra Pradesh High Court upheld “the right of reproductive autonomy” of an individual as a facet of his “right to privacy”[17]. While giving a verdict in case involving a Japanese baby carried in India, the Supreme Court had not only validated "commercial surrogacy", but also termed it a virtual industry[18]. When it comes to commercial agreements, contracts are signed by both the parties. “The contract is valuable not just as a legal document (especially since in the case of a dispute, family law would supersede contract law, meaning, basically, the contract isn’t legally binding in most states), but as a way of getting everything that needs to be discussed out on the table.”[19]  The contract usually sings up the intentions of both parties to produce a child for the intended parents and free will of both parties in taking this decision. This contract will be important evidence if the surrogacy results a custody battle[20]. The sum of compensation is also mentioned in the contract. Any additional points may be included to the contract by the will of one of the sides. In that case, Justice Pasayat said that surrogacy is legal in several countries, including India where due to excellent medical infrastructure, high international demand and ready availability of poor surrogates, it is reaching industry proportions.

In another case, Yonatan and Omer Gher an Israeli gay couple became parents in India, when their child was conceived with the help of a surrogate mother residing in Mumbai, in a fertility clinic in Bandra[21]. It is reported that a baby boy was born to them at Hiranandani Hospital in Powai (Mumbai) on October 12, 2008. Since Israel does not allow same gender couples to adopt or have a surrogate child, India became their first choice to find a surrogate mother. Yonatan and Omer reportedly first came to Mumbai in January 2008 for an IVF cycle when Yonatan is stated to have donated his sperm. Thereafter, they selected an anonymous “mother”. After the child was born, the gay couple left for Israel with the child on November 17, 2008. Even though homosexuality is an “Unnatural Offence” under Section 377 of the Indian Penal, there is no bar to gay couples hiring a surrogate mother to deliver children for homosexual couples in India. Therefore, there are several gay couples coming to India to look for surrogate mothers as India does not disallow such surrogacy arrangements[22].

India is emerging as a leader in international surrogacy and a destination in surrogacy-related fertility tourism.[23] Indian surrogates have been increasingly popular with fertile couples in industrialized nations because of the relatively low cost. Indian clinics are at the same time becoming more competitive, not just in the pricing, but in the hiring and retention of Indian females as surrogate[24]s. Clinics charge patients between $10,000 and $28,000 for the complete package, including fertilization, the surrogate's payment, and delivery of the baby at a hospital. Including the costs of flight tickets, medical procedures and hotels, it comes to roughly a third of the price compared with going through the procedure in the UK[25]. ART industry is now a 25,000 crore rupee industry[26]. Anand, a small town in Gujarat, with a population of around only 1,50,000 people produced more surrogate children, over the span of four years, than any other country and has acquired a distinct reputation as a place for outsourcing commercial surrogacy[27]. The clinic located in this town has given more than one hundred couples the chance to become parents and they expect that to increase at least 40 to 50 percent soon[28].Today, approximately 200, 000 clinics across the country offer artificial insemination, IVF and surrogacy. India and Asia are the main destinations for U.S. women leaving the country for their fertility care, being the destinations for 40% of U.S. women seeking In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and 52% seeking IVF with donor eggs[29].These figures are also claimed to be lower than the real statistics as in many clinics proper records are not maintained. A few states have passed laws requiring nursing homes to register themselves but that does not mean they are monitored. As for the medical profession, "At present we have a committee to monitor press reporting, and another cell to provide doctors with legal advice," says Dr. Adi Dastur, president of the Bombay Obstetrics and Gynecology Society with no reliable statistics on clinics or incomes, it is no surprise that there is also no official counts on the number of gestational surrogate babies born in India[30].Many travel from countries like Germany and Italy, which are very restrictive of the number of eggs that may be fertilized and how many embryos can be used for implantation or cryopreservation[31]. Due to the convenience, lesser restrictions and low costs of the procedures, India is fast becoming the capital of commercial surrogacy in the world.

Issues preventing emergence of Surrogacy Laws

Surrogacy is a blessing for infertile women and homosexual couples which wish to have children[32]. The growth in the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) methods is recognition of the fact that infertility as a medical condition is a huge impediment in the overall wellbeing of couples and cannot be overlooked especially in a patriarchal society like India[33]. Surrogate motherhood provides good and decent parents who cannot otherwise have children the opportunity of loving and raising a child and giving it a kind and loving home.   Imagine a woman who has been told that she is no longer capable of having a child-she knows that surrogate motherhood is the only way in which she could ever have a child.  Do any of us have to deny a woman who cannot have a child the right to receive a child to raise and call her own? What rights do any of us have to deny a man the opportunity to be a father and to raise his son or his daughter? 

The moral issues include the criticism that surrogacy leads to commoditization of the child, breaks the bond between the mother and the child, interferes with nature and leads to exploitation of poor women in underdeveloped countries who sell their bodies for money[34]. Any payment involved reduces the value of a child and commercializes humanity[35]. Also, it is considered to degrade the sanctity of marriage[36]. Many religious and spiritual issues are also raised. Sometimes, psychological considerations may come in the way of a successful surrogacy arrangement.[37]There is ample evidence for genealogical bewilderment in adoption, which shares similarities with surrogacy.[38] However, this does not amount to an objection to adoption per se, since the crucial distinction between adoption and surrogacy is that the latter is an intentional decision to relinquish a child to a commissioning couple without the welfare of the child being paramount, whereas adoption is, in a sense, “rescuing” a child from difficult circumstances, in which case it is the child’s welfare that is of primary concern[39].

In a review of the importance of mother-infant bonding[40], the authors describe elements of the interaction between a mother and her newborn child, which include skin-to-skin contact, eye gazing, and breast-feeding. These actions initiate the simultaneous release of Oxytocin, which facilitates important physiological processes that help the newborn to develop and the mother to recover. In addition to providing health benefits, this hormone-like substance promotes bonding patterns and creates desire for further contact with the individuals inciting its release.

Acting as a surrogate may also lead to infertility. Furthermore, nearly half of the gestational surrogacy pregnancies in the US result in multiple births, with a high risk of premature delivery[41]. One-third or even one-half of infant mortality is due to complications of prematurity, and a large contributor to prematurity is infertility treatment.

It is also a reasonable concern and it would be an evil thing if women were forced to serve as breeding machines[42]. However, the typical surrogacy situation does not seem to be morally problematic in this way. The women choose to be surrogates, they are paid well and most of them seem to be very positive about the experience[43]. As such, while the feminist concerns are well worth keeping in mind, they do not seem to have much force in regards to a normal surrogacy situation.[44]

Surrogacy is also criticized in terms of class. The process of IVF and surrogacy can be very expensive and hence is an option only for those who are wealthy. The women who choose to be surrogates are usually in the lower income range and there is a rising trend in the use of surrogate mothers in countries like India[45]. This raises a concern that this is yet another case in which the wealthy are exploiting those who are in financial need[46]. As Ragone states, “Surrogacy opponents are concerned with the rights of the surrogate mothers. They state that surrogates should have the right not to give child to the intended parents if she changes her mind during the process of the pregnancy[47]. They speak about exploitation of the surrogate and getting profit of the unawareness of poor surrogates about their rights. They also state that people, who choose surrogacy, are driven by their selfishness. There are many children who will never know love of parents in the orphanages but some couples choose unnatural way to have a baby using a surrogate. They want to be genetically linked to their child to be sure the child is exactly “their” continuation.”[48]

This is a rational concern and one that is worth keeping a close eye on, essentially as surrogacy spreads to the Third World. However, no formal research has been done from the perspective of the Indian surrogate mother.[49]Nevertheless, the usual situation does not seem to be one of exploitation. Even if the majority of Indian women were agreeing to become surrogates primarily out of altruism, surrogacy would be no less exploitative[50]. Those who seek out surrogates seem to do so generally since they cannot have children (as opposed to, as some have proposed, just a desire to avoid the hardships of pregnancy). Those who are surrogates are obviously motivated in part by the money, but so far the usual situation is that the surrogate is seeking extra income as a supplement as opposed to desperately selling themselves for cash[51]. Further, many of the surrogates seem to be motivated by a desire to help others in need.[52]

It is counterintuitive to consciously decide to terminate one’s parental rights and duties prior to conception[53]. Legal norms typically affirm rather than confer parental duties and the existing moral obligations that come with it, for there is a sense in which even though a gestational mother has decided to relinquish her child (parenthood rooted in an agreement) she is still the child’s mother (parenthood rooted in biology). Therefore, one can make the a priori inference that self-deception is required on the part of the surrogate in order to break this natural maternal bond she has with her child so as to make it easier to relinquish the child she has nurtured in her womb[54]. In addition, there is also empirical evidence to support this conclusion, that transferring parental rights does not terminate but rather it disguises the parental bonds between the gestational mother and her child.

But do all these limitations mean that surrogacy should be abolished? With respect to the abolition vs. regulation debate, Janice Raymond wrote:

“Basically, the regulatory approach leaves the technologies intact while making them less haphazard.  It restricts the more egregious abuses of these technologies by legislating the conditions and the contexts in which they can be used and by watch-dogging the ways in which these technologies are used. . . .

Regulation functions as quality control rather than as critical challenge. Regulation is a perceived rational response advocating restriction rather than absolution, and within the dominant medical and commercial ecology of reproductive technologies and contracts, scientists, lawyers and entrepreneurs have made a plea for this kind of legislation. . . . It gives the surrogate brokers, for example, a stable marketing environment and makes the process of surrogacy more convenient for the client and broker” [55]

Many problems also arise due to the lack of laws to clear certain issues like the rights of the surrogate, the couple and the child. Other issues include whether single women should be allowed to hire surrogates and whether there should be an age limit to use ART. In an effort to legalize commercial surrogacy, The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill & Rules – 2008, a draft bill prepared by a 15 members committee including experts from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The ICMR members also had prepared the guidelines for surrogacy laws in India in 2005. Supporting surrogacy, it legalizes commercial surrogacy stating that the surrogate mother may receive financial compensation and will relinquish all parental rights. Single parents can also have children using a surrogate mother. Foreigners, upon registration with their Embassy can seek surrogate arrangements[56].

In a case in the Gujarat High Court, Hon. Chief Justice Mr. K.S.Radhakrishnan stated,

“Commercial surrogacy is never considered to be illegal in India and few of the countries like Ukraine, California in the United States. Law Commission of India in it’s 220th Report on  Need for Legislation to regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinics as well as rights and obligations of parents to a surrogacy has opined that surrogacy agreement will continue to be governed by contract among parties, which will contain all terms requiring consent of surrogate mother to bear the child, agreement of a husband and other family members for the same, medical procedures of artificial insemination, reimbursement of all reasonable expenses for carrying the child to full term, willingness to hand over a child to a commissioning parents etc. Law Commission has also recommended that legislation itself should recognize a surrogate child to be the legitimate child of the commissioning parents without there being any need for adoption or even declaration of guardian. Further it was also suggested that birth certificate of surrogate child should contain names of the commissioning parents only and that the right to privacy of the donor as well as surrogate mother should be protected. Exploitation of women through surrogacy was also a worrying factor, which is to be taken care of through legislation.”[57] 

Conclusion

Thus, in the light of the aforementioned reasons, it can be concluded that right to surrogacy is necessary and is a boon to humanity, on the condition that the legislation regulates assisted reproductive technology clinics as well as rights and obligations of parties to a surrogacy[58]. A statutory authority needs to be set up to adjudicate all matters in relation to surrogacy. This Forum, Court, Authority can also be the adjudicating authority to determine disputes decide offences and determine penalties under the Bill. Without this, the proposed Act is not meaningful, is inconclusive and will only create more uncertainty leading to more disputes and inconsistent views[59]. However, to make any of this possible it is essential to remove, as far as possible, the feeling of degradation that comes into people’s mind when faced with the concept of renting a womb.[60]

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[Submitted as entry  to iDiya: ISB's National Social Venture Competition http://www.isb.edu/idiya/]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books referred

1.                Veronica Ions, Indian Mythology (1983)

2.                Raghav Sharma, An International, Moral & Legal Perspective: The Call for Legalization of Surrogacy in  India

3.                White, Ellen, G. The Seventh Day Adventist Bible Commentary. Review and Herald Publishing Association,    Vol.1.

4.                Surrogate motherhood By Martha A. Field, 1990 Edition

5.                The surrogate mother, Noel P. Keane, Dennis L. Breo

6.                Birth mother: the story of America's first legal surrogate mother, Elizabeth Kane

7.                Bodies for sale: ethics and exploitation in the human body trade By Stephen Wilkinson

8.                Reproducing the state By Jacqueline Stevens, 1^st Edition

9.                Furthering judicial education: proceedings of the conference , Volumes528, By WaleedHaider Malik, Carlos LariosOchaita, Guatemala. Corte Suprema de Justicia, World Bank

10.            Brophy KM,.A surrogate mother contract to bear a child. J Fam Law. 1982;

11.            Mady TM. Surrogate mothers: the legal issues. Am J Law Med.

12.            Adoption and Surrogate Pregnancy By Faith Merino, Pamela Anne Quiroz, 2010 Edition

13.            The regulation of assisted reproductive technology

14.            Sex-selective abortion in India: Gender, Society and New Reproductive Techniques

15.            Adoption and Surrogate Pregnancy By Faith Merino, Pamela Anne Quiroz, by Tulsi Patel

16.            Cross-border fertility services in North America: a survey of Canadian and American providers, Edward G. Hughes

17.            The Globalization of Motherhood: Deconstructions and Reconstructions of biology and care By Janemaree Maher

18.            Surrogacy Overseas - A Boon for Medical Tourism by James Johnson

19.            Surrogate motherhood: the ethics of using human beings, Thomas A. Shannon

20.            Kennell and McGrath (2002) Starting the process of mother-infant bonding. ActaPaediatrica. 94(6):775-7

21.            Bird, Gloria W. and Sporkowuski, Michael J., Taking Sides, The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc. Guilford, CT 3rd edition, 199

22.            Robertson JA,.Surrogate mothers: not so novel after all, Hastings Cent Rep. 1983 Oct;13(5):28–34

23.            Kirschner (1990) The Adopted Child Syndrome: What Therapists Should Know, Psychotherapy in Private

24.            Practice, 8(3), Hayworth Press, Issues in reproductive technology By Helen B. Holmes, Joan Helmich

25.            Literature and medicine: an annotated bibliography, Joanne Trautmann Banks, Joanne Trautmann, Carol Pollard

26.            Human Sexuality By Masters, Johnson, Kolodny

27.            The politics of pregnancy: policy dilemmas in the maternal-fetal relationship, Vol 13 By Janna C. Merrick, Robert H. Blank

28.            Surrogates & other mothers: the debates over assisted reproduction By Ruth Macklin

29.            Radically speaking: feminism reclaimed By Diane Bell, Renate Klein

30.            Family: critical concepts in sociology By David Cheal

31.            Sharyn Roach Anleu, Surrogacy: For Love But Not For Money?

32.            The Ethics of Surrogacy, Michael LaBossiere

33.            Surrogate motherhood: international perspectives By Rachel Cook, Shelley Day Sclater, Felicity Kaganas

34.            Parenthood in modern society: legal and social issues for the twenty-first century, By John Eekelaar, PetarŠarčević, International Society on Family Law

35.            Lori B. Andrews, Between strangers: surrogate mothers, expectant fathers, & brave new babies

36.            Contemporary perspectives on assisted reproductive technology By GautamAllahbadia

37.            Bodies of technology: women's involvement with reproductive medicine By Ann RudinowSaetnan, Marta Stefania Maria Kirejczyk

38.            The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined Women By Susan Douglas, Meredith Michaels

Websites referred

1.      www.lawgazette.com.sg

2.      www.amfor.net

3.      www.slate.com/id/2161899

4.      www.wikipedia.org

5.      www.ndtv.com

6.      www.lexsite.com

7.      www.mightylaws.in

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[1]Contributions to Indian sociology, Volume 33

[2]Veronica  Ions, Indian Mythology58-59 (1983); Raghav Sharma, An International, Moral & Legal Perspective: The Call for Legalization of Surrogacyin  India 11 (July 2, 2007) (working paper, on file with Nat’l Law Univ., Jodhpur), see also Gail Hinich Sutherland, Male Surrogacy or Niyoga in the Mahabharata, 24  contributions to  indiansoc. 1 (1990) (discussing the practice of “niyoga”, a  practice employed by childless men to ensure the birth of sons, either through  “wife lending” or having a brother sire a son in his dead brother’s name with the  dead brother’s widow)

[3] White, Ellen, G. The Seventh Day Adventist Bible Commentary.Review and Herald Publishing Association,    Vol.1.Hagerstown, MD 21740, 1978. pp. 316-319 and 342-346

[4] Bible, Genesis 16:7-16

[5]Pg. 21, Surrogate motherhood By Martha A. Field, 1990 Edition

[6]The surrogate mother, Noel P. Keane, Dennis L. Breo

[7]Birth mother: the story of America's first legal surrogate mother, Elizabeth Kane

[8]  The Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilization and Embryology or the Warnock Report (1984)

[9] Pg. 9, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA Report No. 228 AUGUST 2009

[10]Baby Manji Yamada vs Union Of India &Anr.JT 2008 (11) SC 15, J Pasayat

[11]Bodies for sale: ethics and exploitation in the human body trade By Stephen Wilkinson

[12]Pg. 13 Reproducing the state By Jacqueline Stevens, 1^st Edition

[13]Pg. 28 of Furthering judicial education: proceedings of the conference , Volumes528, By Waleed Haider Malik, Carlos Larios Ochaita, Guatemala. Corte Suprema de Justicia, World Bank

[14] http://www.ndtv.com/article/bollywood/aamir-and-kirans-baby-named-azad-rao-khan-156856

[15]GeetaPadmanabhan, Hope in the Test Tube, THE HINDU, Jan. 19, 2006

[16]SandhyaSrinivasan, Surrogacy Comes Out of the Closet, SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA, July

6, 1997, at 1

[17]B. K. Parthasarthi v. Government of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 2000 A. P. 15

[18]Baby Manji Yamada v. Union of India, JT 2008 (11) SC 15, J Pasayat

[19]Mady TM. Surrogate mothers: the legal issues. Am J Law Med. 1981 7(3)

[20]Brophy KM,.A surrogate mother contract to bear a child. J Fam Law. 1982;20(2):263–291

[21] Times Of India, November 18, 2008

[22] The Legal Globalisation Era found at http://www.lawgazette.com.sg/2009-3/regnews.htm [Published: Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:50:33 GMT] [668 characters, 116 words]

[23]  J.D. Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley (1996), B.S. University of Missouri, Columbia (1990).

[24]Pg. 225, Adoption and Surrogate Pregnancy By Faith Merino, Pamela Anne Quiroz, 2010 Edition

[25]Regulators eye India's surrogacy sector, By ShilpaKannan, India Business Report, BBC World, 23 Mars, 2009

[26]The regulation of assisted reproductive technology By Jennifer Gunning, Helen Szoke

[27]Sex-selective abortion in India: Gender, Society and New Reproductive Techniques, by Tulsi Patel

[28]Pg. 62,Adoption and Surrogate Pregnancy By Faith Merino, Pamela Anne Quiroz

[29]Cross-border fertility services in North America: a survey of Canadian and American providers, Edward G. Hughes

[30]The Globalization of Motherhood: Deconstructions and Reconstructions of biology and care By Janemaree Maher

[31]Surrogacy Overseas - A Boon for Medical Tourism by James Johnson

[32]  Julie Novkov (2002), Review of American Political Science Review, 96, pp 622-623

[33] Women of the world: laws and policies affecting their reproductive lives, south Asia

[34]Surrogate motherhood: the ethics of using human beings, Thomas A. Shannon

[35] Pg. 404, Issues in reproductive technology By Helen B. Holmes, Joan Helmich

[36] Bird, Gloria W. and Sporkowuski, Michael J.,Taking Sides, The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc. Guilford, CT 3rd edition, 199

[37] Robertson JA,.Surrogate mothers: not so novel after all, Hastings Cent Rep. 1983 Oct;13(5):28–34

[38]Kirschner (1990) The Adopted Child Syndrome: What Therapists Should Know, Psychotherapy in Private

Practice, 8(3), Hayworth Press.

[39] http://www.amfor.net/acs/

[40]Kennell and McGrath (2002) Starting the process of mother-infant bonding.ActaPaediatrica. 94(6):775-7

[41] IVF may cause higher infant death rates - More money may lead to worse health, says doctor. BioEdge 241 --

Wednesday, 21 March 2007. (http://www.slate.com/id/2161899/)

[42]Literature and medicine: an annotated bibliography, Joanne Trautmann Banks, Joanne Trautmann, Carol Pollard

[43] Pg. 676, Human Sexuality By Masters, Johnson, Kolodny

[44] Pg. 172, Family: critical concepts in sociology By David Cheal

[45]Surrogates & other mothers: the debates over assisted reproduction By Ruth Macklin

[46] Pg. 242, Radically speaking: feminism reclaimed By Diane Bell, Renate Klein

[47]The politics of pregnancy: policy dilemmas in the maternal-fetal relationship, Vol 13 By Janna C. Merrick, Robert H. Blank

[48] Ragone (1994) Surrogate Motherhood: Conception in the Heart. Boulder, San Francisco, Oxford: Westview Press;pg. 74-78, pg. 407-408, Quoted in van Zyl and Nierkerk (2000) Interpretations, Perspectives and Intentions in SurrogateMotherhood. Journal of Medical Ethics, 26

[49] For research of surrogate mothers in Western contexts, see, for example, Vasanti Jadva et al.,  Surrogacy: The Experiences of Surrogate Mothers,; Shaw, supra note 73, at 11 (detailing accounts from surrogates in New Zealand who view their acts not so much gifts, but as projects of the self, or as events that serve to mark out new beginnings in their lives); Hazel Basilington, The Social Organization of Surrogacy:  Relinquishing a Baby and the Role of Payment in the Psychological Detachment Process, 7 J. HEALTH PSYCHOL. 57 (2002) (British study postulating that attitude towards payment becomes part of a psychological detachment process in which surrogate mothers emotionally distance themselves from the growing foetus and finding a strong psychological component evident in the conscious effort by surrogate mothers to think of their surrogacy arrangement as being a job with payment and not to think of the baby as theirs); HELÉNA  RAGONÉ, SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD:   CONCEPTION IN THE  HEART passim (1994) (ethnographic study of American surrogate motherhood

[50] See, e.g., Sharyn Roach Anleu, Surrogacy: For Love But Not For Money? 6 GENDER &SOC’Y 30, 31-32 (1992) (positing that the distinction between commercial and  altruistic surrogacy is socially constructed, rather than based on self-evident or  intrinsic differences, and that both types of surrogacy involve the application of  pervasive gender norms that women’s motivations to  have children should be  based on emotion, selflessness and caring, not on self-interest, financial incentives  or pragmatism); Narayan,  supra note 83, at 66 (“I have . . . come to think that  many of the moral and legal problems with commercial surrogacy do not seem  unique to such arrangements or necessarily connected to the commercial and contractual aspects of paid surrogacy.”); Uma Narayan, The “Gift” of a Child: Commercial  Surrogacy, Gift Surrogacy and Motherhood, in EXPECTING TROUBLE: SURROGACY, FETAL  ABUSE & NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES 177 (Patricia Boling ed., 1995).

[51]Pg. 164, Surrogate motherhood: international perspectives By Rachel Cook, Shelley Day Sclater, Felicity Kaganas

[52] The Ethics of Surrogacy, Michael LaBossiere

[53]Lori B. Andrews, Between strangers: surrogate mothers, expectant fathers, & brave new babies

[54]Parenthood in modern society: legal and social issues for the twenty-first century, By John Eekelaar, PetarŠarčević, International Society on Family Law

[55]RAYMOND, supra note 101, at 207-08.  (Also stated“Thestarting  point for the protection of women’s bodily integrity is the regulation of technological reproduction by penalizing its vendors and purveyors and by preventing  women from being technologically ravaged.”).

See, e.g., RAYMOND, supra note 101, at 206 (noting that in the United States there  has been more of an institutional trend towards regulation than abolition which can be attributed to American values of choice and laissez-faire individualism, but also the notion that “to prohibit any of these reproductive procedures is technological McCarthyism – a repressive, retrogressive censorship of progress and a gross intrusion into the reproductive lives of individuals who may need the techniques”); Hale,  supra note 314, at 342 (observing that in the domestic context, congressional dormancy in enacting federal surrogacy legislation could be attributed to lack of public pressure and the complex ethical dilemmas it presents)

[56]Contemporary perspectives on assisted reproductive technology By GautamAllahbadia

[57] Jan Balaz v. Anand Municipality & 6, unreported case, letters patent appeal no. 2151 of 2009

in special civil application no. 3020 of 2008 with civil application no. 11364 of 2009

[58]Bodies of technology: women's involvement with reproductive medicine By Ann RudinowSaetnan, Marta Stefania Maria Kirejczyk

[59]Alumini seminar in New Delhi, 13^th February 2009

[60]The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined Women By Susan Douglas, Meredith Michaels