It’s a sad fact that nearly 1 in every 8 couples have trouble getting pregnant or maintaining a pregnancy and nearly 12% of women receive fertility treatments at some point in their lives.
Since 2003, there has even been a 65% increase in IVF treatments in the United States. With so many struggles with pregnancy and conception, many people seeking children are now starting to consider “hiring” surrogate mothers to carry their children to term.
In India, Dr. Nanya Patel, an award-winning M.D., began a surrogacy program to help couples have the children they may not otherwise be able to have.
Akanksha infertility and IVF clinic, based in the small city of Anand in rural Gujarat, cares for and houses nearly 100 women surrogates who carry the embryos of wealthy foreign couples.
Mothers at the Akanksha clinic are paid the equivalent of $8,000 USD for each child they carry, which is “good money” for many women who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. (Some women are paid up to $32,000 per child!)
For many couples, traveling to India to use a surrogate mother has quickly been gaining more social acceptance. However, there are many who believe that surrogacy “services” for money is a form of abuse, some even calling it “biological exploitation.”
You can decide for yourself after watching this short documentary about the Akanksha clinic below:
