Randeep Ramesh | The Guardian | 20 March 2006
Ethics under scrutiny as would-be parents are enticed by lower costs and relaxed laws.
Daksha, a shy Gujarati woman in her early 30s, wants a child – but not for herself. The baby is for the “Britishers”, the couple seated in the lobby of the Indian fertility clinic.
It is the first time that the British Asian couple, Ajay and Saroj Shah, from Leicester, have met Daksha. The 31-year-old is “loaning” her womb to them for 150,000 rupees (£2,000) and is candid about needing the money. Her shop job pays only 2,000 rupees a month.
She says her friend was a surrogate mother. “She was paid well. I am not rich so the money will help me a lot. I have no problem bringing joy to this family. I do not need another child. I have two of my own.”