A strange type of economy has recently boomed in India, that of surrogacy. With growing infertility rates in the developed world, desperate couples are seeking more creative ways to conceive a child. Indian women are now being used as surrogates at a growing rate. There are many reasons, the most pronounced is the large amount of money in impoverished economic circumstances.
The first article, obtained by Slate, the author warns against the dangers of surrogacy. It is dangerous for the couples (they could lose the child in legal troubles), dangers for the surrogate (numerous health reasons, being shunned from society, etc...) and it sets a dangerous social precedent.
The second article is not quite as one-sided. It definitely poses that this is a strange sort of medical tourism, venturing even to say it is a type of prostitution in such a religious country, but it sees the redeeming sides for such poor women in desperate circumstances.
What do you think? Is it exploiting developing countries and poor women? Is this helping them in anyway? Is this different than surrogates, egg or sperm donors in America?
Megan Morrow
Megan, based on these articles that you posted, if you are interested in exploring economic empowerment opportunities for economically poor women in India for our Oct 8th group presentation...I'm game.
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