Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the poster that painted a very clear cultural picture earlier.

To add to the picture - how often do you think rich Indians give to charity? Would you be shocked to know that the answer is virtually none? How about people who volunteer in their community? Or something as simple as don't throw trash on the street?

Civic pride, giving back, charity are all western ideals. Christian ideals, in fact. There is no basis in eastern culture for these values. Even with western influences (which some modern Indians interpret simply as western women are loose and sleep around), they don't think like us. The world is not one giant America.

I assure all of the skeptics on this thread that economic coercion is real, but the women likely won't see a cent of that money. Their husbands will probably use it to drink and do drugs (if we're talking about the kind of women in a desperate enough situation to not just sell their body, but sell their womb).

Wow. Just. Wow.

What you don't know is a lot.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the poster that painted a very clear cultural picture earlier.

To add to the picture - how often do you think rich Indians give to charity? Would you be shocked to know that the answer is virtually none? How about people who volunteer in their community? Or something as simple as don't throw trash on the street?

Civic pride, giving back, charity are all western ideals. Christian ideals, in fact. There is no basis in eastern culture for these values. Even with western influences (which some modern Indians interpret simply as western women are loose and sleep around), they don't think like us. The world is not one giant America.

I assure all of the skeptics on this thread that economic coercion is real, but the women likely won't see a cent of that money. Their husbands will probably use it to drink and do drugs (if we're talking about the kind of women in a desperate enough situation to not just sell their body, but sell their womb).

Anonymous wrote:I understand all the reasons that people would explore this as an option, but I personally cannot get past the extremely colonialist mindset that says it's perfectly okay for a wealthy Western to go to a developing country and pay 1/3 the American price tag for a poor woman to carry a child for them. I also cannot get past the obvious and very real issues with the way that many parts of Indian culture treat women and girls. I would never be able to be 100% sure that the surrogate was not being coerced in some fashion.

I know that the same sort of economic coercion happens in the US and that surrogacy and adoption are by and large a luxury industry that people do not engage with unless they have the resources to do so. But given the colonial history of India and the gender issues that are pervasive in Indian society, I would personally not be comfortable with it and would have a hard time respecting friends of mine who chose that route, but that's a result of my personal politics and I don't know anyone personally who has chosen an Indian surrogate, so it's largely theoretical for me.

Anonymous wrote:I understand all the reasons that people would explore this as an option, but I personally cannot get past the extremely colonialist mindset that says it's perfectly okay for a wealthy Western to go to a developing country and pay 1/3 the American price tag for a poor woman to carry a child for them. I also cannot get past the obvious and very real issues with the way that many parts of Indian culture treat women and girls. I would never be able to be 100% sure that the surrogate was not being coerced in some fashion.

I know that the same sort of economic coercion happens in the US and that surrogacy and adoption are by and large a luxury industry that people do not engage with unless they have the resources to do so. But given the colonial history of India and the gender issues that are pervasive in Indian society, I would personally not be comfortable with it and would have a hard time respecting friends of mine who chose that route, but that's a result of my personal politics and I don't know anyone personally who has chosen an Indian surrogate, so it's largely theoretical for me.

Anonymous wrote:I understand all the reasons that people would explore this as an option, but I personally cannot get past the extremely colonialist mindset that says it's perfectly okay for a wealthy Western to go to a developing country and pay 1/3 the American price tag for a poor woman to carry a child for them. I also cannot get past the obvious and very real issues with the way that many parts of Indian culture treat women and girls. I would never be able to be 100% sure that the surrogate was not being coerced in some fashion.

I know that the same sort of economic coercion happens in the US and that surrogacy and adoption are by and large a luxury industry that people do not engage with unless they have the resources to do so. But given the colonial history of India and the gender issues that are pervasive in Indian society, I would personally not be comfortable with it and would have a hard time respecting friends of mine who chose that route, but that's a result of my personal politics and I don't know anyone personally who has chosen an Indian surrogate, so it's largely theoretical for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm interested in what the cost difference is. We did GC in the US -- EVERYTHING (had twins, period of bed rest for GC, etc, 2 IVF cycles, our eggs/sperm (no egg donor)) totalled around $125K.

In India, all of that is quoted to be around $40,000

Of which the surrogate makes a minuscule amount. The reason it's cheap is because the woman is being underpaid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm interested in what the cost difference is. We did GC in the US -- EVERYTHING (had twins, period of bed rest for GC, etc, 2 IVF cycles, our eggs/sperm (no egg donor)) totalled around $125K.

In India, all of that is quoted to be around $40,000

Anonymous wrote:I'm interested in what the cost difference is. We did GC in the US -- EVERYTHING (had twins, period of bed rest for GC, etc, 2 IVF cycles, our eggs/sperm (no egg donor)) totalled around $125K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually PP, thank you. I just realized that not only would very few women be surrogates, but it would be every likely that it isn't their choice. My guess is that most Indian surrogates are forced by their husbands or whomever to do so in order to make that person money.

Guess away. As usual, DCUM half-wits deciding they know something based on nothing other than speculation.

Tell me, which regulations control surrogacy in Indian? When surrogates are selected, what's in the psychological portion of the evaluation? Do you have reason to believe it is ineffective at screening for these types of issues? Or, do you think Indian mental health professionals are unaware that some women may face these pressures? Also, most women enter into surrogacy because they feel compassion for the infertile couple. That is true in India as well as in the US. Do you think that Indian surros can't have compassion? Further, some Indian fertility clinics have been at the forefront of the fight for GLBT rights in that country (surrogacy is very important, especially for gay men who want families) and have also fought against the practices of femicide and gender selection. Do you know which clinics these are? There are certain best practices to minimize the likelihood of exploitation. Do you know what these are?

Look, no one is going to say that in a country as big as India, that has certain general cultural norms and is at a certain stage of development, that exploitation isn't part of the picture. That would just be stupid. But to "guess" that the entire country and every person, every doctor, and every surro in it all act and think and behave in the same way is equally stupid.

Come back to the thread when you move from guessing to knowing.

Anonymous wrote:Actually PP, thank you. I just realized that not only would very few women be surrogates, but it would be every likely that it isn't their choice. My guess is that most Indian surrogates are forced by their husbands or whomever to do so in order to make that person money.