Gita Aravamudan - Baby makers : a story of Indian surrogacy

BABY MAKERS

A Story of Indian Surrogacy

GITA ARAVAMUDAN

HarperCollins Publishers India

Praise for Disappearing Daughters

[This] is an important and valuable study ... Aravamudan has used investigative reporting to explore different aspects of female foeticide, its beginnings and its backlash, the ways it grows and how it can be stemmed. - The Hindu

Disappearing Daughters is a must-read for teachers, students, parents, political leaders and, especially, doctors. Lucidly written, it traces, through absorbing case studies and relevant data, the tragedy of Indians killing their girls en masse. - Outlook

A scorchingly honest and compelling account of female foeticide in India, the book is an important and valuable study ... [It] also busts myths and suggests ways forward that may save future generations of daughters, even if it is too late for the present. - Anindita Sengupta, Wordpress

Praise for Colour of Gold

Given that she has worked on various non-fiction stories and written a few issue-based books that concern society, Aravamudans works of fiction too are exceptionally well-researched. DNA

Gita Aravamudan definitely strikes the right chord by bringing out an amazing story that appeals to the senses of the reader. - The New Indian Express

Praise for Unbound: Indian Women @ Work

[Biz] icons ... rub shoulders with hairstylist Rachel and call-centre employee Sumathi and discuss topics such as gender discrimination and the difficulties of balancing home and office. The stories ... provide a valuable guide to the brave new world of todays women professionals. The Hindu

Praise for The Healing

This novel signposts the changing ways of contemporary India. - The Hindu

To my solid pillars of support Aravamudan, Ananth, Sriram, Shuba and Layaa

Motherhood is a state of being, which has, from time immemorial, been defined by a set of cliched, internalized words that are as powerful as they are evocative.

Woman, womb, mother ... in our minds, the creation, sustenance and nurturing of life hinges on the blending of these words into synonymity.

But does being a 'mother' necessarily include the whole gamut of actions like conceiving, carrying, bearing and rearing a child?

What if a woman's womb is removed? Or if she cannot conceive? Or, if she can never give birth to a baby?

Does that make her less of a woman? Or less of a nurturer? Or, indeed, a mother?

We live in times when much that was considered natural has been called into question. Today, a woman can generate a life which is later grown in another woman's womb and is nurtured and raised by a third person. So then, does the biological mother cease to be the mother of the child she created? And what about the woman who provides the womb? Does she cease to be a mother once she has given birth? And what is the definition of the third person who has no biological connection with the baby, but is a nurturer? Which of these three is the real mother?

Who is a mother? And why? Can a father mother a child? Does an embryo have to have a traceable genetic history through its mother?

These questions, contrary to common sense as they seem, need to be asked because we live in a changed world, where a baby need not be the product of a simple act of procreation involving a man and a woman. It's also a world in which the baby makers can play a very important role in the creation, sustenance and nurturance of life.

Scientific advancement has thrown up many permutations and combinations in this field. Today, babies can be ordered over email, created in Petri dishes from frozen genetic material, and grown in wombs that are considered to be nothing more than gestational vessels. Today, human eggs are traded like any other commodity and fertile women sell their eggs to sterile women for the creation of babies to whom they are not genetically related.

Humans, who are created from the embryos born of anonymous eggs and sperm, and grown in the wombs of surrogate mothers, will never know their genetic history.

In order to remain relevant in this brave and ever-changing world, the concept of motherhood, as we know it, needs to be redefined.

December 2011

New Jersey, USA

It was on a cold, snowy day that Cathy finally decided she and Dennis would go to India to hire a surrogate. Maybe the freezing temperature outside had something to do with the decision. Maybe she had just reached a point of no return. It came to her in a flash as she stood at the window, staring at the snow. She had to pack her bags for India.

Some months ago, she heard the verdict she was dreading. She wouldnt be able to carry a baby to term. She had been receiving fertility treatment for more than three years now. She had gone through four abortions. But she always had hope. A feeling that something would work. That some miracle would happen.

Until that fateful day, when the doctor uttered the words she never thought she would hear. Cathy, your only option now is to hire a surrogate.

Her first reaction was No!

The baby had to be hers. Dennis had an eighteen-year-old daughter from his first marriage. A baby was not so important to him. But she wanted to have a child of her own. Born from her womb.

Cathy went into depression. Dennis couldnt console her. Why dont we hire a surrogate like the doctor said, Cathy? he asked repeatedly. If thats the only way out, why dont we give it a shot?

Because, Cathy retorted, among other things, we cannot afford it. Weve already spent so much on this fertility treatment, which didnt work. Also, I hate the thought of my baby growing in some unknown womans womb. Maybe I would come to terms with that eventually. But where will we find the money to hire a surrogate? And where can we find someone we can trust? We live in New Jersey, remember?

They knew that if they were forced to hire a surrogate to carry their baby, New Jersey wasnt an option. Although the Baby M case had played out here almost twenty-five years ago, the repercussions could still be felt. Surrogate contracts in New Jersey were confusing and, more importantly, still not enforceable.

A few weeks later, after she recovered a bit, Cathy started trawling the net, trying to figure out what options were available to her. California was a possibility since its laws were more user-friendly and surrogates were easily available, but the cost was way beyond their means. Eastern European countries like the Czech Republic, and Asian countries like India and Bangkok, were better options as the laws permitted surrogacy and surrogates were much more affordable.

But for a woman who had never left New Jersey, every place looked frighteningly alien.

Eventually, India emerged as an alternative. The medical facilities were good. Fertility tourism was flourishing. There were no laws banning surrogacy, and there were many poor women eager to rent out their wombs for a price. Most importantly, a lot of Indians spoke English and it would be easier to negotiate with the doctors, agents and lawyers there. Maybe the surrogates couldnt speak English, but that didnt matter; it could even work out to be an advantage.

She started going through the extensively written blogs of couples who had hired surrogates in India.

And then Mabel brought her the Oprah Winfrey recording.

Mabel and Cathy were best friends from school. Mabel had married Cathys brother Kent at a very young age, and they had three grown-up children. Cathy had just drifted from one relationship to another until she met Dennis when she was in her late thirties. For the first time in her life, she wanted to settle down with a man and start a family of her own. But it was almost too late.