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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcK3wRxXt8

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India's surrogate mothers - exploitation or a service? | @DOCUHUB

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Isha, a 30-year-old lady, is a surrogate mother whois six months pregnant. She lives in poor infrastructure, sharing a small bathroom with several families and a small, noisy passageway. She said she is helpless in the process of being a surrogate mother.

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1. Do you think surrogacy should be banned? Think about the perspective of both surrogate mothers and infertile couples, homosexual couples etc.

2. What would be the possible protocols to guarantee the human rights of surrogate mothers?

3. Do you think as surrogate children, their human rights are violated?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhzUvl82WBw

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Bibliography

Sharmila Rudrappa. Discounted Life: The Price of Global Surrogacy in India.Accessed April 19, 2023. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=peQWCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=india+surrogacy&ots=fA2Mz15kzv&s
ig=hFU2PQSEzhj408_wbLnb_BN77io#v=onepage&q=india%20surrogacy&f=false.
"Baby Gammy: Surrogacy Row Family Cleared of Abandoning Child with down Syndrome in Thailand." News. Last modified April 13, 2016. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-14/baby-gammy-twin-must-remain-with-family-wa-court-rules/7326196.

"High Price Tags and Ugly Secrets – How Surrogacy Preys on Poor Women." BioTexCom (blog). Entry posted July 27, 2015. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://biotexcom.com/high-price-tags-and-ugly-secrets-how-surrogacy-preys-on-poor-women/.

Julie McCarthy. "Why Some of India's Surrogate Moms Are Full of Regret." NPR. Last modified September 18, 2016. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/18/494451674/why-some-of-indias-surrogate-moms-are-full-of-regret.

Madeline Roache. "Ukraine's 'baby factories': The human cost of surrogacy." Aljazeera. Last modified September 2018. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/9/13/ukraines-baby-factories-the-human-cost-of-surrogacy.

"Mitsutoki Shigeta: 'Baby factory' dad wins paternity rights." BBC News. Last modified February 2018. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43123658.

Natalie Huet, and Naira Davlashyan. "Surrogate mothers, babies and frozen embryos trapped by Ukraine war as IVF parents watch in horror." Euronews. Last modified March 14, 2022. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/03/11/surrogacy-in-crisis-as-ukraine-war-leaves-newborns-stranded-in-bomb-shelters-and-families-.

Nishat Hyder-Rahman. "Commercial Gestational Surrogacy." Anti Trafficking Review. Accessed April 16, 2023. https://www.antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/542/416.

"India's surrogate mothers exploited?" Video. Posted April 11, 2013. Accessed
April 18, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhzUvl82WBw.

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Mitsutoki Shigeta, a Japanese man, fathered 13 children using Thai surrogate women. Shigeta was free to pursue custody of the kids, and once the Thai surrogates gave up their parental rights, he was given "sole parent" rights. When it was discovered that Shigeta had fathered at least 16 children in Thailand via surrogates, there was uproar in 2014. He was suspected for human trafficking. Thailand banned commercial surrogacy for foreigners as a result of his case and others. Interpol was looking into Shigeta for possible human trafficking, and when authorities searched his apartment, they discovered nine surrogate children, nannies, and a pregnant surrogate mother. Soon after, he fled Thailand.

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Article 4: held in servitude while not getting the promised payment.
Article 3: The security of person and right to life are violated by the lies about natural birth, yet the reality ends up with C-sections. The medication-induced miscarriage threaten the security of the surrogate mother.

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A Bangkok court has awarded paternity rights to a Japanese man over 13 babies he fathered through Thai surrogate mothers.

The ruling allows Mitsutoki Shigeta, 28, to pursue custody of the children.

The son of a wealthy entrepreneur, he caused controversy in 2014 when he was revealed to have fathered at least 16 babies via surrogates in Thailand.

His so-called "baby factory" case and others led to Thailand banning commercial surrogacy for foreigners.

Mr Shigeta, who was not present at the trial, was awarded "sole parent" rights after the Thai surrogates forfeited their rights, according to the court, which did not name him.

"For the happiness and opportunities which the 13 children will receive from their biological father, who does not have a history of bad behaviour, the court rules that all 13 born from surrogacy to be legal children of the plaintiff," Bangkok's Central Juvenile Court said in a statement.

Mr Shigeta was awarded custody of his three other children in 2015.

In 2014, he was investigated by Interpol for human trafficking after it emerged he had fathered 16 surrogate children in Thailand.

His Bangkok apartment was raided and police found nine surrogate babies, nannies and a pregnant surrogate mother there.

He left Thailand soon after, but later sued the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security for custody of the children.

'He wanted a very large family'

By Jonathan Head, BBC News, South East Asia correspondent

When a blurred airport security photo was published, more than three years ago, of Mitsutoki Shigeta, holding an infant as he left Thailand, there was fevered speculation over his motives for siring so many children with surrogate mothers.

Some of the children had already been taken to Cambodia, and the Thai police began investigating him for possible human trafficking.

But his lawyer insisted he simply wanted a very large family, and that as the son of a wealthy Japanese entrepreneur he was able to look after them properly.

A court in Bangkok has now accepted that explanation: Thai officials told the court they had travelled to Cambodia and Japan, and found he had enough carers and facilities to bring up the 13 children who are still in state care in Thailand.

What is known about the father?

Few details are known about the background of Mr Shigeta.

According to Japanese media, he is the son of an IT billionaire and paid between $9,300 (£6,600) and $12,500 to each of the surrogate mothers.

Thai media says Mr Shigeta is unmarried, owns several companies himself and has already made plans for the future of his children, including setting up trust funds for them.

After leaving Thailand four years ago, he was thought to have moved to Hong Kong and currently lives in Japan again.

Media reports also suggest he might have travelled to India and Ukraine to father children there.

Gradual transfer of custody

The 13 children will not immediately be transferred into Mr Shigeta's custody.

His lawyer told AFP news agency that he would contact the Social Welfare Ministry about next steps, adding that the timelines still had to be agreed to avoid "abrupt changes" for the children.

Mr Shigeta's case shed light on Thailand's booming surrogacy industry, as did the case of "Baby Gammy" which also emerged in 2014.

Baby Gammy's Thai surrogate mother alleged that he was abandoned by his Australian parents after they found out he had Down's Syndrome. They took his twin sister home.

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Mitsutoki Shigeta: 'Baby factory' dad wins paternity rights

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A Bangkok court has awarded paternity rights to a Japanese man over 13 babies he fathered through Thai surrogate mothers. The ruling allows Mitsutoki Shigeta, 28, to pursue custody of the children. The son of a wealthy entrepreneur, he caused controversy in 2014 when he was revealed to have fathered at least 16 babies via surrogates in Thailand.

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Down syndrome Child Gammy being Abandoned

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Down syndrome Child Gammy being Abandoned

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In 2014, a surrogacy dilemma involving Gammy, a child with Down syndrome, made headlines. Australian couple David and Wendy Farnell utilized Thai surrogate Pattaramon Chanbua to carry their biological children. However, when Gammy was born with Down syndrome, Chanbua refused to bring him back to Australia. The Farnells transported Gammy's identical twin sister back to Australia. The lawsuit raised awareness to the issues surrounding surrogate mothers' rights and commercial surrogacy.

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-14/baby-gammy-twin-must-remain-with-family-wa-court-rules/7326196

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A baby with Down syndrome at the centre of an international surrogacy dispute in 2014 was not abandoned in Thailand by his Australian parents, a court has ruled.

Baby Gammy and his twin sister Pipah were born in Thailand in December 2013 to surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua, using Bunbury man David Farnell's sperm and donor eggs, after Mr Farnell and his wife Wendy were unable to conceive a baby.

The Farnells returned to Australia with Pipah in February 2014 and Ms Chanbua sought orders from Western Australia's Family Court to have Pipah returned to her.

However, in a judgement released today, Chief Judge Stephen Thackray said he had decided she should continue to live with the Farnells.

The case caused a furore when it was claimed the Farnells had abandoned Gammy, who has Down syndrome, in Thailand.

But in his judgment, Justice Thackray found the Farnells did not abandon Gammy, and had wanted to keep him.

However, at some time during the pregnancy, "it is clear that Mrs Chanbua had fallen in love with the twins she was carrying and had decided she was going to keep the boy."

When civil unrest broke out in Bangkok in early February, the Farnells were advised by Australian embassy staff to leave the country.

With Ms Chanbua refusing to give up baby Gammy, who was still in hospital, the Farnells left with Pipah and "returned to their home in Bunbury, which they had set up for two babies," Judge Thackray said.

"Although they were home, they were petrified the authorities might come to retrieve Pipah. They were also traumatised as a result of leaving Gammy behind."

The judge also refuted allegations the Farnells later sought access to a trust fund set up for Gammy.

On the contrary, the couple had donated the proceeds of a media interview they did with 60 Minutes to the trust fund.

After details of the case were made public two years ago, it was revealed that Mr Farnell had been convicted of child sex offences.

But in his decision, Justice Thackray said there was no evidence he had reoffended since his release from jail in 1999.

Justice Thackray said Pipah had "settled into her new home" and was "thriving in the care of a loving network of family and friends, including Mr Farnell's ex-wife, and their adult children and their families."

He said Gammy also "appears to be thriving" in Thailand where he has the "love and support of the members of [Ms Chanbua's] extended family".

"I have decided Pipah should not be removed from the only family she has ever known, in order to be placed with people who would be total strangers to her, even though I accept they would love her and would do everything they could to care for all her needs," he said.

Surrogacy problems highlighted: judge

Justice Thackray said the case "should also draw attention to the fact that surrogate mothers are not baby-growing machines, or 'gestational carriers'".

"They are flesh and blood women who can develop bonds with their unborn children.

"The appalling outcome of Gammy and Pipah being separated has brought commercial surrogacy into the spotlight.

"Quite apart from the separation of the twins, this case serves to highlight the dilemmas that arise when the reproductive capacities of women are turned into saleable commodities, with all the usual fallout when contracts go wrong."

Proceedings before the WA Family Court are normally confidential, but Justice Thackray ruled the case could be made public because of the level of public interest.

"This matter highlights the difficulty in achieving a balance between the right of the public to learn of the full background to an important case while ensuring that the best interests of the children involved are protected," he said.

He said the Farnells had "suffered great humiliation and enormous stress for things they did not do".

Decision welcomed

Child Protection Minister Andrea Mitchell welcomed the decision.

"The case covered a complex set of legal, emotional and social circumstances, including human rights and the legalities of artificial fertility and surrogacy," she said in a statement.

"The department has been working intensively with this family for more than 18 months and will continue to be involved in the child's future."

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A baby with Down syndrome at the centre of an international surrogacy dispute in 2014 was not abandoned in Thailand by his Australian parents, a court has ruled. Baby Gammy and his twin sister Pipah were born in Thailand in December 2013 to surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua, using Bunbury man David Farnell's sperm and donor eggs, after Mr Farnell and his wife Wendy were unable to conceive a baby.

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The surrogate mothers envision their child will be sent to family with love and raised carefully and wealthily. However, it might not be the case. The customers of the surrogacy service varies, and the child might not end up with happiness. Some of the customers are even pedophile. The lack of transparency in the surrogacy business is deceiving for the surrogate mothers.

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Lies Beneath Paperwork of Surrogacy that Deceives Surrogates

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Lies Beneath Paperwork of Surrogacy that Deceives Surrogates

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https://biotexcom.com/high-price-tags-and-ugly-secrets-how-surrogacy-preys-on-poor-women/

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Women from a poor demographic have become an increasing interest in the multi-billion dollar surrogate industry, with most mothers being forced or coerced into volunteering as a surrogate.

"Surrogacy depends in many cases on the exploitation of poor women, because it's the poor who have to sell and the rich that can afford to buy," Christopher White told CNA July 23.

White, who serves as the Director of Research and Education at the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, said that frequently in countries from the developing world like India and Thailand, where the surrogacy market is booming, the women hired as surrogates "are forced into the practice due to patriarchal structures."

"They are given very little consent in the matter, or these women feel as if it's their only choice and one of the few ways they can contribute to their household income. So they go, very often hesitantly and unwillingly, and enter into this practice."

India and Thailand are among the most common international destinations for couples seeking surrogacy due to low costs and loose regulations. White also named Mexico, Nepal and Ukraine as other countries where the market is growing.

Attention has mounted the past few days over a recent surrogacy case in Thailand in which a surrogate mother refused to allow the American couple who hired her to take their child out of the country when she found out that they were homosexual, Reuters News reports.

Although the woman in the case, Patidta, is not the child's biological mother, under Thai law the birth mother is recognized as being the mother of the child, and commissioning parents have no automatic legal rights over the child born.

Apparently Patidta believed she would be giving the baby to a heterosexual couple, but only learned they were homosexual when the couple came to pick the child up. She then refused to let them take the baby.

Such a lack of transparency in the surrogacy industry is not uncommon.

Alana Newman, founder of the Anonymous Us Project, told CNA July 24 that "there is definitely enormous deception being used from every angle."

"Egg providers and surrogates are being lied to about the health consequences of the hormones they take. They are being sold a fantasy that every intended couple that walks through the doors of fertility clinics will make loving, wholesome homes when in fact there are no incentives whatsoever for fertility industry professionals to vet and reject customers with troubling profiles."

Newman's project gathers stories of individuals who have either willingly or unwillingly participated in reproductive technologies such as surrogacy, with the goal of fostering truth and transparency in the industry.

She said that as far as surrogacy goes, there is no guarantee of integrity of the gamete providers, and that sperm donors "can and do say whatever they think the woman wants to hear - just like they would at a bar."

"There are pedophiles hiring surrogates and egg donors. There are gamete providers and fertility industry workers lying on paperwork about donor profiles to sell more specimen."

Keeping such anonymity, she said, "lets them maintain a warm fantasy."

The controversy is the latest in Thailand after numerous cases surfaced last year, including accusations that an Australian couple abandoned their Downs Syndrome baby, leaving him with the birth mother and taking only his healthy twin sister back home.

Surrogacy laws in Thailand have changed following last year's scandals, banning foreigners from receiving surrogacy services. However, the new law doesn't go into effect until July 30 of this year, making the couple's request legal.

The American couple that hired Patidta have another child born through surrogacy in India, but went to Thailand after India changed their laws last year allowing only heterosexual couples to seek surrogates.

White explained that although the majority of couples looking for a surrogate mother are currently heterosexual, recent years have seen a spike in the number of homosexual couples looking for assisted reproductive services.

He said the recent push for marriage equality has also given rise to the idea of "family equality," in which the couples insist on their right to form their own families "without any type of restriction, and should be granted access by insurance benefits and other means to acquire the family of their desires."

Although concrete statistics on the exact number of homosexual couples now seeking third party reproductive services are hard to find, White said it's enough to go to any surrogacy website and look at their marketing.

On any major surrogacy site "you'll find that they are particularly marketing toward the demographic of gay men," he said.

"These agencies have special programs for gay men, they have special conferences such as 'Families through Surrogacy,' (and) 'Families by Design,' all targeted toward this population."

White also noted the various health risks associated with surrogate pregnancies, for both the woman and the child.

Due to surrogacy's high costs and the desire for brokers and agencies to boost their success, usually numerous embryos are implanted in the surrogate mother, which White said can lead to an increased risk of cesarean sections and longer hospital stays.

The child born through surrogacy also faces greater risks, he said, including the increased chance of low birth rates, pre-term births, fetal abnormalities and high blood pressure.

Emotional and psychological health is also a concern due to the severing of the mother-child bond that is usually encouraged during pregnancy, but which is cut off in cases of surrogacy.

"It's a human rights tragedy," White said. "The entire practice just shows the way in which we've commodified the human body."

"It subjects these women and children that are born by this practice to risks that are unnecessary, but we've commercialized the body. It undermines both these women's health and their dignity."

He explained that women who serve as surrogates are frequently disregarded after the birth of the child, and that it's rare to see a surrogate mother come back to do it again.

Instances of war or natural disaster can complicate the situation, such as in the case of Ukraine and the recent earthquakes in Nepal, White observed.

"Any time there's a stressful situation or heightened drama around the surrogate pregnancy, what's quickly revealed is the fact that these surrogate mothers are looked upon simply as employees of the agencies rather than mothers or patients," he said.

Rather than being treated the same as a mother delivering her own child in the hospital, these women "are being monitored and supervised because someone's dollar value is on the line. There's a price tag attached to that transaction."

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/

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High price tags and ugly secrets - how surrogacy preys on poor women

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Women from a poor demographic have become an increasing interest in the multi-billion dollar surrogate industry, with most mothers being forced or coerced into volunteering as a surrogate. "Surrogacy depends in many cases on the exploitation of poor women, because it's the poor who have to sell and the rich that can afford to buy," Christopher White told CNA July 23.

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“There are pedophiles hiring surrogates and egg donors. There are gamete providers and fertility industry workers lying on paperwork about donor profiles to sell more specimen.”

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Because the payments are insufficient, Indian surrogates are rarely able to alter the root cause of their poverty. Therefore, the truth lies beneath the surrogacy commercial chain is the exploitation of the poor.

Many were underpaid and given false information about the processes. Countless surrogate mothers were being promised with "natural childbirth," yet many births end up being C-sections. In order to increase the chances of pregnancy success, some couples hired more than one surrogate, with the less viable pregnancies being destroyed by medication-induced miscarriage. The mother was given a pill to take and came back bleeding without knowing it was an intentional abortion. More importantly, the surrogate mother will not get paid if they lose the baby.

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Businessman in charge of the surrogacy commercial perspective

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Businessman in charge of the surrogacy commercial perspective

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"Even if they don't [participate in] surrogacy, they will get pregnant themselves. They do not use contraception. So they get pregnant, pregnant, pregnant! That's it! They are thoughtless people. Now if they get an opportunity to help somebody who is childless, and they help themselves with the money they can never think of in their lifetime — nobody has been exploited. So what is wrong with that?" he asks.

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In India, the lucrative surrogacy market is presently uncontrolled and ungoverned by legislation. Most surrogates come from low-income families, and they are rarely paid what they were promised and are misled about the procedures. They are also informed that they will give birth naturally, although this is not always the case. Some couples use many surrogates to increase their odds, eliminating the less healthy pregnancies through medication-induced miscarriage. The industry, according to critics, is dominated by the wealthy, who take advantage of the poor.

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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/18/494451674/why-some-of-indias-surrogate-moms-are-full-of-regret

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Isha Devi hails from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, built by a grieving king for a beloved queen. Isha now lives three hours and a world away from any such romantic ideals.

Renting a small dingy room, this mother of a 12- and 14-year-old has come to the outskirts of New Delhi to live close to her fertility clinic. Isha, 30, is six months pregnant with someone else's twins. Her room opens onto a noisy alleyway of families in similarly cramped quarters all sharing a single bathroom. Isha groans, shifts uncomfortably on her cot and rearranges her pink floral sari.

Isha explains, "I was helpless" and became a surrogate to expunge a family debt.

Surrogacy has been described as a thriving - and lucrative - industry in India. But no national surveys have been done to come up with an estimate of how many women are involved. And no law currently governs surrogacy in India.

That could change. The government is proposing a law that would bar couples married fewer than five years, unmarried couples, gays, singles and foreigners from commissioning a surrogate. "Legally wedded couples who have been married for at least five years can opt for surrogacy," the foreign secretary has said about the proposed legislation. The bill would limit the practice to "altruistic" cases, where a woman would provide the services of her womb for free, either for implantation of an embryo conceived by in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination with the father's sperm.

But with India's most disadvantaged women acting as surrogates, would a ban deprive them of an economic opportunity or protect them from exploitation?

"I would have never done this," Isha says. "But my husband had a terrible accident when his rickshaw slid under a bus. He fractured his hip and can't work. That was our only income." Her husband earned $5 a day. His medical bills mounted to $3,000 dollars.

Then her sister told her that women get paid for carrying a child. Isha earns $160 a month during the pregnancy and will receive a lump sum of about $4,200 after the birth. But she says the monthly stipend is too small to pay off the debt, support her family, pay the rent and buy the pricey fruits and vegetables her doctors recommend she eat to stay healthy during the pregnancy. She does get free vitamin supplements from the clinic.

Petite and noticeably pregnant, Ishasays she's often hungry.

Her doctor, embryologist Anoop Gupta, runs one of the largest fertility clinics in New Delhi.

Judging by the constant telephone interruptions during the course of our interview, he's a man in demand. His clients, who span the globe, are mostly couples using in vitro fertilization to conceive their own child. Gupta's surrogacy practice is small. Gupta says he started working with surrogates in 1997 and has "650 surrogacies delivered by now."

His clientele includes gay couples and single females, a growing part of the surrogacy picture in India. "You are helping people who are helpless," he says.

Gupta says the going fee is one million rupees - or $14,000. Surrogates, such as Isha, receive less than half of the money. Doctors, agents, lawyers, labs, and technicians all get a cut. Still Gupta considers surrogates well-compensated and dismisses criticism that India's poorest women are being taken advantage of. "Pregnancy is not a big deal for them," says Gupta, who adds that he looks for "simple" women and once selected an educated engineer who gave him nothing but "headaches."

"Even if they don't [participate in] surrogacy, they will get pregnant themselves," he says of the impoverished women who become surrogates. "They do not use contraception. So they get pregnant, pregnant, pregnant! That's it! They are thoughtless people. Now if they get an opportunity to help somebody who is childless, and they help themselves with the money they can never think of in their lifetime - nobody has been exploited." In his view, the surrogates are helping alleviate their poverty and are less of burden on the state. "So what is wrong with that?" he asks.

Manasi Mishra, who heads the Research Division at the Centre for Social Research in New Delhi, thinks there's plenty wrong with it. She says the industry is "run by haves, to exploit the have-nots." She says Indian surrogates are rarely in a position to change the fundamental circumstance of their poverty because the payments simply aren't enough.

"This pregnancy is precious," Mishra asserts, "the mother is not."

In studies of 200 surrogates conducted in 2010 and in 2012, Mishra found many weren't paid what they were promised and deceived about the procedures. She says many women are told their deliveries will be natural childbirth but often undergo a Cesarean section. She also discovered some couples had commissioned more than one surrogate to boost their chances - with the less viable fetuses eliminated through a pill-induced miscarriage. "When she goes for a check-up, she's given the pill and told to come back after lunch," Mishra says, and then returns bleeding.

"She doesn't know it is an induced abortion," says Mishra. "She has been made to believe that it is because of her carelessness that she has aborted." One woman told Mishra she wasn't paid anything after losing the baby.

Mishra says one doctor "had the audacity to tell me that in a country where we have a high fertility rate" and where women abort unwanted pregnancies, where is the harm in "surrogacy arrangements?"

"We cannot do that in a civilized society," she says.

Jayashree Wad agrees. Last year, the 78-year-old attorney filed public interest litigation against surrogacy in a bid to bring to the attention of the Supreme Court the fact that the industry is "unregulated" and "abundant."

Wad argues that surrogacy amounts to the "commercialization of motherhood" and that it constitutes a form of exploitation using the bodies of women she describes as "downtrodden." She argues that the practice is an "infringement of fundamental rights" guaranteed under the Indian Constitution, specifically "unknowing exploitation."

Mishra says Indian surrogates typically have no more than a fifth grade education. They often cannot read contracts drafted in English. The surrogacy process makes a mockery of consent, she says.

Karuna Nundy, an attorney who practices before the Supreme Court, says the person "hiring the lawyer" typically gets to frame the terms - but "informed consent is absolutely essential."

Nundy says surrogates routinely do not understand their payment schedule or what health care services are being provided or the risks of surrogacy.

"The kind of information that is lacking, is what does this contract really mean? What do I do if all of these promises aren't panning out the way that you promise they are?"

Some observers believe a government committee needs to hear from the women whose bodies are being rented in the first place before any decision is madewhether to ban or regulate surrogacy.

"So if you have a bunch of commercial surrogates who are saying we need a ban, you have a ban," Nandy says. "If you have a bunch of commercial surrogates who say, 'No, I want to do this, but it's not fair, I need more money,' then that points to a regulated industry."

Nundy adds that if we ask disempowered women what they want, "We start to think of them as whole people, we start to ask them what they want as citizens."

Back in her room, Isha Devi says she wants to meet the woman whose twins she is carrying. That's not likely. Doctors discourage it. It's one more uncertainty in a life bundled with them. But Isha has no doubt about one thing.

Surrogacy would not have been an option to enhance her family's meager finances had her husband not fallen ill.

Feeling alone and anxious, Isha quietly says: "Whatever I'm going through, nobody should go through."

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Why Some Of India's Surrogate Moms Are Full Of Regret

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Isha Devi hails from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, built by a grieving king for a beloved queen. Isha now lives three hours and a world away from any such romantic ideals. Renting a small dingy room, this mother of a 12- and 14-year-old has come to the outskirts of New Delhi to live close to her fertility clinic.

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Payment of Wages Act, 1936: The act regulates the payment of wages to employees in all industries and covers workers earning less than a specified amount (currently Rs. 24,000 (292 usd)per month) working in factories, railways, plantations, mines, and other establishments.

The Constitution of India Article 23: "traffic in human beings and begar [forced labor] and other similar forms of forced labor are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offense punishable in accordance with law."

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"The right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work, which ensure, in particular, remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind."

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The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008: Human trafficking, which is a type of contemporary slavery and a breach of Article 4 of the UDHR, is prohibited by this legislation and is a crime. Additionally, the legislation offers protection and assistance to trafficking victims, which pertains to the right to personal security under Article 3.

The Labor Protection Act of 1998: minimal requirements for employment in Thailand, among them clauses addressing pay, working conditions, and workplace security. These requirements aid in safeguarding employees against exploitation and abuse, which is connected to the right to be free from slavery and servitude under Article 4 and the right to personal safety under Article 3.

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United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) 

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United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) 

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By outlawing torture and other cruel, inhuman, or humiliating treatment or punishment, which are both considered to be forms of contemporary slavery or servitude, UNCAT strengthens this principle.

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International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 6 

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International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 6 

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"Every human being has the inherent right to life and that this right shall be protected by law."

# data[].attributes.body
"Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution."

# data[].attributes.body
"Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state."

# data[].attributes.body
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms."  The article can also be applied to situations where individuals are forced to become surrogate mothers against their will, as it is a form of servitude and exploitation."

# data[].attributes.body
"Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person."