"Reproductive Outsourcing" Booming In India

Mumbai, India (AHN) - India's lucrative outsourcing sector is not limited to back office jobs. It is now emerging as a major supplier of "back bedroom jobs" as an infant outsourcing hub as well.

According to the International Herald Tribune, reproduction is the newest addition to the Asian tiger's outsourcing industry. Couples from the United States and Europe are asking Indian women to serve as surrogate mothers, leading to a boom in the number of clinics offering the procedure.

Commercial surrogacy is prohibited in a number of European nations and is subject to strict regulations in the U.S., but has been legal in India since 2002. The cost of $25,000, which covers the medical procedure, plane tickets and accommodation for two, is just one-third of what it would cost in the United States. The double fare and hotel bills covers both fertilization procedures and taking back the baby.

Although there is no official data on the number of outsourced mothers, Rudy Rupak, President of PlanetHospital, an American medical tourism company, said he expects to help at least 100 couples find contacts with Indian surrogates this year; up 4 times from the 25 Western couples he assisted in 2007.

"Every time there is a success story, hundreds of inquiries follow," Rupak explained.

Dr. Naina Patel, who runs a clinic in Anand, added her own view on the baby boom. She receives an average of 10 emails every day from childless couples overseas, who prefer Indian surrogates because they are generally free from vices such as drinking, smoking and drugs.

Apparently, India has taken Microsoft founder Bill Gates' advice seriously when he visited India. Gates said, "Information technology is not the answer for employment. You're going to have to emulate China and its manufacturing sector, because that's where the jobs are and that's where the multiplier effect is the highest."