World outsources pregnancies to India

[marmar]

from AP, via Yahoo!:



World outsources pregnancies to India
By SAM DOLNICK, Associated Press Writer
12 minutes ago



ANAND, India - Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills.

A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world.

The small clinic at Kaival Hospital matches infertile couples with local women, cares for the women during pregnancy and delivery, and counsels them afterward. Anand's surrogate mothers, pioneers in the growing field of outsourced pregnancies, have given birth to roughly 40 babies.

More than 50 women in this city are now pregnant with the children of couples from the United States, Taiwan, Britain and beyond. The women earn more than many would make in 15 years. But the program raises a host of uncomfortable questions that touch on morals and modern science, exploitation and globalization, and that most natural of desires: to have a family.

Dr. Nayna Patel, the woman behind Anand's baby boom, defends her work as meaningful for everyone involved.

"There is this one woman who desperately needs a baby and cannot have her own child without the help of a surrogate. And at the other end there is this woman who badly wants to help her (own) family," Patel said. "If this female wants to help the other one ... why not allow that? ... It's not for any bad cause. They're helping one another to have a new life in this world." .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071230/ap_on_re_as/india_wombs_for_rent;_ylt=Am4g_VpB_Oh8pclxtGl3z1ZI2ocA

[Deja Q]

1. What's the big bother? Those doing the work don't seem to mind.

:shrug:

[demnan]

2. The cow is sacred in India

for religious reasons of course, but this 6,000 year old agarian culture also sees the benefit more in the milk from the cow than the meat. And the meals they prepare are laced with wonderful yoghurt and fresh cheese they prepare which are rich in calcium.

If people want to have their own children, they should probably look to some of the diet in the Indian culture, some of which is healthy and probably conducive to fertility. I think the American diet is way too high in hormone-laced meats and pesticide-laced vegetables. The whole grains and dairy products of the Indians are one of the reasons why these people are so fertile.

[Deja Q]

4. So that's why they have Indian women being inseminated, rather than cows?

Hindus also feed milk to wooden dolls, if you believe wikipedia -- talk about a waste of a good resource.

Given the two idiots that fed a vegan diet to their infant, which promptly died BTW, I think many people of many religions already know the value of milk. It's been around for rather a long time...

BTW: I think lots of sex contributes more to their sizable population than anything else. I eat lots of grains and drink lots of milk and I'm not boinging every woman out there... or every man, latex toy, horse, goat, toaster, or anything else I'd rather not fathom as a response in this response.

[demnan]

5. You've missed my point completely

I would never advocate a vegan diet nor did I think I advocated a vegetarian diet. What I tried to demonstrate was that dairy products might be more healthful in promoting fertility than a high meat diet.

It amazes me how people feed their own emotions into other peoples posts.

[Deja Q]

6. Then what was your point?

And I quote your post:

for religious reasons of course, but this 6,000 year old agarian culture also sees the benefit more in the milk from the cow than the meat. And the meals they prepare are laced with wonderful yoghurt and fresh cheese they prepare which are rich in calcium.

If people want to have their own children, they should probably look to some of the diet in the Indian culture, some of which is healthy and probably conducive to fertility. I think the American diet is way too high in hormone-laced meats and pesticide-laced vegetables. The whole grains and dairy products of the Indians are one of the reasons why these people are so fertile.

And what emotions? I wasn't disagreeing with you regarding the value of milk and grains...

Okay, I did miss out on "the American diet... meats... pesticide-laden vegetables". Americans are often too sedentary as well... Meat and excess protein is an issue. What's in vegetables is a separate argument, but in order to raise enough crops to feed all, they are an inevitability these days...

Plus, knowing fat people who have lots of children, I don't think it's one's diet that attributes to their ability to create offspring - that part of your post still baffles me as it doesn't seem related to the main point. Do you have emotions of your own on that issue?

[demnan]

8. I think people in industrial countries are seeing a decline

in fertility. Male fertility as well, big time. Studies have been done on male sperm and this problem on PBS, I saw it.

I'm not saying I know why, but I'd be willing to raise this question and ask about our diet and our lifestyle. We may not need fertility now, but what about when the baby boomers retire? Are there enough GenX to pay into our social security?

I think you will find in some European countries that this is a question that is being raised. So I hope you won't mind me raising it.

[gollygee]

7. I don't think the fertility of Indian vs. American women is relevant

there are lots of fertile meat-eating American women, and there are doubtlessly infertile Indian women.

It's about poverty in Indian and women there choosing to become surrogates as a result. People choose Indian surrogates because they're less expensive than American surrogates, not because they're more fertile.

[Bigmack]

3. My D-in-L is in her last trimester....

.. and she thinks it sounds like a great idea!