Ground Report: The dark side of surrogacy industry, packages from Rs 20 lakh

The Surrogacy Act was enacted to prevent the commercialisation of surrogacy. Our investigation uncovered a clandestine surrogacy racket operating with greater secrecy than organ trafficking.

Surrogacy has been a thriving business in India since the beginning of the millennium. However, unethical medical practices and the exploitation of surrogates have cast a shadow over the practice in the country, which once gained a reputation of being a 'rent a womb' haven for childless couples.

The commercialisation of the unregulated sector gave rise to "surrogacy tourism" as foreign couples flocked to India. This prompted the government to bring legislation to ban commercial surrogacy in 2021. However, clinics exploiting impoverished women and human trafficking for surrogacy have turned out to be a menace despite regulations.

To gauge the ground situation in such clinics, India Today spoke to many fertility centres in Delhi-NCR. A probe reveals that the illicit trade persists and its operations have merely shifted underground.

The reporter, under the guise of a woman looking for a surrogate mother, visited a fertility clinic in Gurugram. Here, the reporter gave her identity as 'Divya'. After being made to fill a detailed form, the reporter is then greeted by a coordinator or an agent at the clinic.

The coordinator assures the reporter about the clinic's high success rate for surrogates. He claimed that they screened 10 to 15 girls for each surrogacy to ensure a healthy baby.

When asked by the reporter if the surrogate refuses to hand over the baby after delivery, the coordinator says, "That will never happen. We separate the mother and baby right after delivery. She doesn't even get to see the baby's face and will not know anything about you."

After the meeting with the coordinator, the reporter is then taken to meet the doctor. After enquiring about her medical history, the doctor asked the reporter varied questions about the kind of surrogate needed and if she had religion or caste preference.

Doctor: What kind of surrogate do you need?

Divya: Religion and caste are factors. We are Hindu, so...

Doctor: No problem. Everyone has their own preferences. Muslim couples often want Muslim surrogates. We have agents who supply Muslim surrogates. One agent provides mostly Hindu girls. A healthy Hindu girl would do, right?

Divya: Yes, that's fine. But she should also be in good health and have a decent height.

Doctor: We take care of all that during screening. We try to match the client’s preferences as closely as possible. But the main goal is a successful delivery.

After that, the doctor showed pictures of the surrogates on her phone. "We check everything before hiring them. We don’t just bring in anyone," the doctor says.

Divya: Where do the surrogates come from?

Doctor: Haryana, Bihar, UP. Girls from these areas give good results. We don't take girls from other states.

Divya: Okay. How long will the process take?

Doctor: According to your agreement, it will take about 15 months.