By David Lee, Muhd Nurluqman & Tan Wei Xin
NTU Students
stonline@sph.com.sg

 

FOR what it is worth, India's indomitable spirit and ability to get on with life in the face of adversity borders on the inspirational.

The 26/11 Mumbai attacks was as astounding in the extent of the massacre – at least 173 killed and 308 injured – as it was resounding in its indictment of the city's inability to fight terror.

Then again, in India, when you can't fight, you cope. So just like the 2003 and 2006 Mumbai train blasts and a slew of other attacks, Mumbai was up and running again in a matter of days.

It was a good thing too, for we would not have been able to complete our fieldwork about surrogate mothers in India.

Of course we were on tenterhooks flying into a terror-stricken state so quickly after such a large-scale assault.

However, and this is not from the benefit of hindsight, we somehow felt safe enough to make the trip. And so we went, much to the chagrin of our family and friends.

Necessity is the mother of all inventions in India and it seems the concept of surrogate mothers is a classic example of Indian improvisation as well.

They are usually poor womenfolk who conceive on behalf of another couple in return for a sum of money they would otherwise take many more years to make.

You must understand there are not many career prospects for most of the uneducated women of India.

Many poor Indian women see surrogacy as the last resort.
PICTURE: David Lee, Muhd Nurluqman & Tan Wei Xin

The cost of such procedures in India is also almost a quarter of what clinics in America or Europe charge. Hence, India is fast emerging as a popular destination for childless couples to seek help.

Advocates of surrogacy call it a win-win measure. Neutrals feel it is controversial. Opponents wish the idea were never born at all, deeming it exploitative – the childless couple may be held to ransom, or the destitute surrogate mother may be underpaid.

Scratch the surface, and surrogate mothers will tell of how the needs of two desperate women are met in such a transaction – the barren gets a baby, the broke gets a bonus. And they all live happily ever after.

Dig deeper and the surrogates begin to reveal the trauma and turmoil they experience before plunging into what some of them call the "last decent resort" to pay off debts, buy a house, or save for their children’s education.

Even doctors in India are divided on this issue.

There are those like India's fertility veteran Dr Indira Hinduja who feel that adoption should be the way to go for couples unable to conceive.

However, most IVF doctors are like Dr Nayna Patel, who recommends surrogacy with stringent guidelines.

Then there are some who take it to another realm, such as Dr Gautam Allahbadia, who offers surrogacy options to gay couples.

On a personal level, it was difficult to miss how some couples long to have children. We would never understand what it is like to go through 10 failed fertility treatments like Sue did.
 
In her own words, the well-to-do American lady of Korean descent had never imagined herself in a rundown Indian clinic in the middle of a sleepy and dusty rural village, wiping away her tears as she tells her story to rookie journalists. The physical and psychological trauma must have been immense.

Mother Teresa could not have put it better: "Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own."

We think, even more so the poor. Hence, we present to you the story of the surrogate mothers in India, as well as tales from other stakeholders in this burgeoning industry.

Read the full story in the Saturday Special in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.

PICTURE: David Lee, Muhd Nurluqman & Tan Wei Xin