What is the Price of a Womb
Not every “miracle baby” that you see in headlines or articles is truly a miracle.
Not every “miracle baby” that you see in headlines or articles is truly a miracle. Many of them are born from a marketplace valued at approximately $29 billion, where wombs
are rented, babies are branded as commodities and mothers are reduced to production
machines. Behind the bold and glossy titles of “miracle birth” lies hidden stories of coercion,
poverty, and power.
What is Surrogacy?
In simple words, surrogacy is when a woman agrees to carry a child for someone else,
offering her womb as the place where life evolves. The earliest surrogacy appeared in 1985 in
the United States when medical science combined with parental desperation, giving birth to a very convenient solution, profitable to both the parties. What began as a mutually beneficial
decision, a chance for childless couples to find joy, and for some women to support others
gradually turned into a billion-dollar industry.
The Unveiling of the Hidden Truth
In its natural state, surrogacy wasn’t evil. In fact, it is still not evil. It was meant to be about
hope and shared humanity, women helping women, childless couples finding hope through women. Imagine it as a bridge: a woman lending her strength so another could walk across
into motherhood. But bridges can also be broken or turned into toll roads. Agencies, powerful
individuals, and corporations commercialized this gesture, using it for their own unethical
benefits. An act which could have been full of generosity, and compassion turned into a
corrupt business. It is most definitely rightly said about humans that they tend to over exploit
the most harmless issues.
Commercializing a Human Body?
Today, the global surrogacy market is valued at nearly $29 billion and is projected to reach
$129 billion by 2030. These numbers not only show the advancement in the medical field but
also the regional inequalities. Couples who are financially stable, often travel across borders
to “rent” the wombs of women in economically weaker nations. This business thrives
primarily because poverty is an easy target and desperation makes consent negotiable. Again
the question which arises is
"Is it even consensual if it is forced by poverty?”
When Horror took over Hope
Surrogacy’s grey came out in light through certain horrific cases. The Baby M Case 1986,
USA, where a surrogate mother refused to give the child she birthed, prompting legal
questions that pointed out doubts whether a mother can truly “sign away” motherhood. The
Baby Gammy Case 2014, in Thailand where an Australian couple abandoned a baby boy
born with Down syndrome while taking home his healthy twin sister. This is a child being
reduced to a “defective merchandise.”
And The Baby Manji Yamada Case 2008 of India–A Japanese baby was left stateless due to
a surrogacy contract dispute, highlighting the legal chaos of cross-border surrogacy.
However, the true horror behind all this is that these are only the specific major cases that
came to the public eye through media, through the chaos at the court proceedings and by
reading headlines. This strongly suggests the potential for countless cases to remain
unnoticed and unacknowledged.
Classic Examples in Indian Cinema
Our cinema has tried to represent the contradictions that pop up with surrogacy and
surrogates in its distinctive manners, both appropriate and inappropriate.
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke dressed surrogacy in moral garb, focusing on the aspect of
hope rather than exploitation by the practice. But it comes into one of the classic examples of
the niche.
Mimi gave us the raw circumstances of a surrogate mother left to fend for herself on her own,
when the commissioning parents backed out and unsurprisingly it is based on a true story.
Badnaam Gali exposed the social stigmas and whispers women face in societies that glorify
motherhood yet are abhorrent towards the surrogate.The irony and hypocrisy for women in
Indian society is still laughable considering this is the 21st century we are talking about.
NOT SIDE EFFECTS BUT CENTRAL ISSUES!!!
For years, we have been fighting for women for their health, their rights and how they
shouldn't be considered a body for production. But, even after so much time has passed we are
still fighting over the same issues. This double standard is clearly visible in the negligent
behaviour of the authorities towards the crime committed against the surrogates. Many
surrogates undergo multiple embryo transfers; here we are talking about unconsented
transfers, repeated C-sections and long recoveries without adequate medical care.
Is it truly consented if financial desperation is the deciding factor? Poverty forces many
women into arrangements they would never otherwise consider. And wealthy couples
especially go down the road to choose surrogates from specifically the lower classes to
facilitate their ends. Moreover, surrogates often earn only a fraction of what is paid by the
parents as most of it is pocketed by the agencies themselves
Another nightmare for the surrogates would be nationality. Babies left stateless, stuck
between borders and law. This can lead to immense difficulties in establishing their identity,
accessing basic rights, and even traveling, as they lack official recognition from any country.
The legal rules about who is a child's parent and what citizenship they should have are
different in every country and across the world. When these laws clash, they create a highly
unstable and dangerous situation where the children born via surrogacy are the ones who face
the biggest problems.
Last but not least, carrying a child is in itself a very solemn journey and being forced to sever
that bond takes an immense emotional toll on a woman which is rarely acknowledged in
contracts.
Where does India stand in this entire fiasco?
Once called the “Surrogacy Caption of the World”, India had to enact the Surrogacy
Regulation Act, 2021, banning commercial surrogacy and allowing only altruistic arrangements. The law aimed to curb exploitation of vulnerable individuals involved in
surrogacy. But critics note it still leaves loopholes and inadvertently drives certain surrogacy
arrangements into an unregulated, clandestine sphere. This highlights the necessity for the
improvement of the ongoing laws and the legal framework with more consideration over its
effectiveness and the protection of surrogates.
The Final Word
For a woman, bringing a new life into the world is an incredibly profound experience. And
when a woman agrees for a process like surrogacy,out of love or out of need, either way she
is performing the purest form of kindness.
So it’s a responsibility that this act should be treated with the same vigour and discretion from
the parents, the agencies which govern this act and the authorities onlooking.
It’s high time now we STOP commercializing women’s bodies. A womb is not a factory. A
A child is not a product. And a mother is not a contract!
Because a human body is not a vessel, it is a universe in itself, and it deserves respect
and dignity not a sale tag!!
About the Author
Alviya Faisal
Alviya has always been drawn to stories : the ones tucked in the pages of history books and the ones hidden between the lines of literature. She studies History and English Literature, not just for facts or fiction, but for the way both reveal how deeply people feel, love, and change over time. Her writing often comes from small moments, a sentence that stays, a silence that lingers, or a feeling that is stubborn enough and refuses to go away. She loves exploring emotions that don’t have easy explanations and finding words for things most people only feel. When she isn’t reading or writing, Alviya can be found gazing at the moon, lost in thought. It’s her quiet ritual, a way to slow down, to listen, and to remember that beauty often hides in stillness. She writes for those who find comfort in words, and for anyone who believes that even the smallest stories can hold entire worlds.