NEELAM Chauhan has made a profession of pregnancy. The 34-year-old single mother from the suburbs of New Delhi will soon give birth for the fifth time — but only two of the babies have been her own. Ms Chauhan is carrying her third surrogate child and would like to bear a fourth if she is allowed.
She is one of a growing number of Indian surrogates.
“The main reason I did this is because I had financial problems,” Ms Chauhan says. “But it also means I can help parents who cannot have children.”
Lax regulation, cheap medical care and a supply of low-cost surrogate mothers has made India a world leader in commercial surrogacy. There are no official figures, but it is likely hundreds of surrogate babies are born each year in India. According to some estimates, the number has doubled in the past three years.
The Age reported last week that some of the demand is from Australia: at least 30 couples are now pursuing surrogacy in India.
Yarraville couple Trevor Elwell and Peter West are among them. Their twins, being carried by a Mumbai woman, are due in May.
“Our children will know where they came from and who their father is when they are old enough to understand and we are determined to include their Indian heritage in their upbringing,” Mr Elwell said last week.
Critics say Indian surrogacy exploits the poor and risks the health of vulnerable women.
Ms Chauhan says her three surrogacies have taken her family from financial crisis to relative security. She has used the money with pragmatic discipline. Her first payment of 80,000 rupees ($2400) paid off debts accrued following a divorce. Her second surrogacy payment secured a house and she intends to put away most of this year’s 350,000 rupees ($10,500) payment to educate her own two sons, Pankaj, 12, and Shivam, 10.
Ms Chauhan’s first two surrogacies were for Indian couples but the baby she now carries is for an Israeli couple. This is a factor in the higher fee she will receive this time. “It’s expected to be more when they are foreigners”, she says.
Ms Chauhan receives regular check-ups at the Delhi-IVF and 5000 rupees ($150) a month for food and other living expenses while she is pregnant.
Dr Anoop Gupta, who runs Delhi-IVF, says some middle-class women become surrogates to pay for a better life.
“Often ladies come in with their husbands to inquire about surrogacy, saying they want to use the money to buy a car or do up the interior.”
There has been a jump in the number of volunteers for surrogacy in India since the world economy soured last year. Some come from highly indebted middle-class families fearing unemployment.
Even so, demand for surrogates remains strong. Dr Gupta says he sometimes gets 20 emails a day from around the world inquiring about surrogacy. “Their reasons are always the same — good medical treatment, cheaper rates in India and no legal hassles involved,” he said. “There’s so many inquiries now I’ve given up replying to them all.”