India's Womb Services

Our 'rent a womb' child from an Indian baby farm: British couple paying £20,000 for a desperately poor single mother to have their child

• Housewife Octavia Orchard describes the agreement as 'a business transaction'
• The Indian woman will live in a house with other surrogates, has children of her own, but no husband
• 'Her function is to sustain the foetus we have created,' says Mrs Orchard
• Of the £20,000, the Indian woman will earn between £3,000 - £6,000
• Around 2,000 births to surrogates took place last year

By Helen Roberts and Frances Hardy

Strictly business: Octavia and Dominic Orchard have paid for an Indian woman to be their surrogate

A couple tell today how they are expecting a child by a surrogate mother from an Indian ‘baby factory’.
Octavia and Dominic Orchard travelled to the Hyderabad clinic to get around a UK ban on commercial surrogacy. Their baby – due at the end of the year – will be theirs biologically while being born to an impoverished Indian ‘renting out’ her womb.
Mrs Orchard, a middle-class Oxfordshire housewife, admitted the £20,000 deal sounded ‘cold and clinical’ but insisted: ‘This is a business transaction.’
Describing the surrogate mother as ‘just a vessel’, the 34-year-old former estate agent added: ‘There is no altruism involved on the surrogate’s part: she is being paid to have our baby’.
At A clinic in Hyderabad, southern India, a surrogate mother is carrying Octavia and Dominic Orchard’s second child. The couple, who are as English as their bucolic-sounding name, know only the sparest of details about the woman who is pregnant with their baby.
They know she is 31 and has children of her own. They know her name, and that for reasons not explained — perhaps she has been widowed or deserted — she has no husband.
For the duration of her pregnancy she will live with other surrogates, away from her home and family, in a primitive dormitory within the clinic. It goes without saying that she is desperately poor.
Other than that, their surrogate’s life is a mystery to Octavia and Dominic. They chose not to become acquainted with the woman carrying the baby created from Octavia’s egg and Dominic’s sperm.
‘Our baby has no biological connection to the surrogate,’ says Octavia.
‘Her womb is just the receptacle in which it is being carried. Perhaps it sounds cold and rather clinical, but this is a business transaction.
‘There is no altruism involved on the surrogate’s part: she is being paid to have our baby. It’s a contractual arrangement.

 

‘Her function is to sustain the foetus we have created. Her blood is pumping around its body and she is feeding it through her placenta, but she is just a vessel. The baby she gives birth to on our behalf will carry none of her genes and bear no physical resemblance to her.
‘He or she will have white skin and, in all probability, red hair like my husband.
‘Of course I want her to do her best to have a successful pregnancy, and I’ll be very upset — quite devastated, in fact — if it doesn’t go full-term. But we do not want to get emotionally involved with our surrogate’s story. I’m not interested in her background. I don’t want to be part of her life.
‘She speaks a different language. She lives in a world culturally, economically and socially so remote from ours that the distance between us is unbridgeable.

Happy family: The Orchards are looking forward to giving their son Orlando another sibling

Happy memories: The Orchards pictured on their wedding day - they probably wouldn't have predicted the story that was to follow

‘You could also say this is part of my defence mechanism: I don’t want to become more emotionally involved than I already am because the pain will only be intensified if it all goes wrong.’
Some will find it disquieting that the miracle of birth is being reduced to a clinical commercial transaction by a growing number of British couples.
India’s burgeoning surrogacy industry — there are about 1,000 clinics providing surrogates for ‘fertility tourists’ — has been compared to a baby factory in which children are made-to-order for affluent couples who often use donated eggs and sperm to create their baby, and an Indian donor to carry it, choosing everything from their baby’s eye colour to its height.

'I hope my surrogate does something wonderful with the payment'
Mrs Orchard 

The Orchards have not been told how much their surrogate will earn from the £20,000 cost of the treatment — clinics are loath to specify sums — but estimates range from £3,000 to £6,000.
Many will struggle to understand Octavia’s lack of curiosity about the woman who is now 27 weeks pregnant with her child, but she is content knowing that the unspecified sum her surrogate will receive for her services will be life-transforming.
‘I hope my surrogate will do something wonderful with the payment,’ says Octavia.
‘She could educate her children with it; even buy a small house. It makes me feel good that we could help that happen.’
Octavia and Dominic are among a growing number of Britons using Indian clinics to circumvent UK laws that make commercial surrogacy illegal.

'Vessels': The Indian surrogate mothers at an Indian 'baby factory'

Around 2,000 births to surrogates took place in India last year, and Britain supplies the largest number of clients — estimates suggest as many as half are from the UK. The fact that just 100 surrogate births were recorded in Britain last year puts the scale of the Indian operation into perspective.
While some of the couples who attend the Indian clinics are homosexual and use sperm or egg donors, many, like Octavia and Dominic, are driven by infertility to put all their hopes into these clinics in teeming, impoverished cities like Hyderabad.
However, while the vast majority of these British couples choose to remain anonymous, the Orchards have decided to speak out about their own experiences with an Indian surrogate to encourage other British couples to consider the practice.

After 16 weeks of pregnancy, Octavia's amniotic sack failed to fill after her waters broke, and the baby died in the womb 

Octavia, 34, who had a comfortable middle-class upbringing in Oxfordshire, and Dominic, 35, a successful financial management consultant, have been married for six years and have a three-year-old son, Orlando, who was conceived naturally.
‘Orlando brought us such joy. I’ve loved every second of motherhood,’ says Octavia, who now works part-time in her recruitment job so she can spend more time with her son.
The Orchards knew they wanted more than one child, and were delighted when Octavia became pregnant 18 months after their son’s birth.
But after 16 weeks, Octavia’s waters broke prematurely, with catastrophic results: the amniotic sack failed to fill again and the baby died in the womb. She then had to endure an operation to remove the foetus.
‘I felt not only bereft, but completely worthless,’ she recalls. ‘I felt I’d let Dominic down. I couldn’t save our baby, I’d failed as a woman. I’m usually buoyant and positive, but I reached a very low ebb.’
The Orchards tried again for a baby. More sorrow ensued. Last January, Octavia’s obstetrician discovered that the remains of the placenta from her previous pregnancy were still in her uterus. A further operation to remove them followed.

All change: The art of conceiving has been taken to a new level now with the Indian baby-making factory

Then last October a fertility expert diagnosed Asherman’s Syndrome: the scars from Octavia’s successive operations had irreparably damaged her uterus, which had sealed up. She could no longer become pregnant.
‘I cried and cried,’ she says. ‘My confidence deserted me and though friends and family tried to tell me I had a perfect family already, I wouldn’t be consoled. I desperately wanted a sibling for Orlando and another baby for Dominic and myself.’
It was then they considered surrogacy. ‘As I could produce healthy eggs, I just needed a uterus in which our baby could grow,’ she explains. She and Dominic would provide the embryo and their surrogate would incubate it: it seemed simple.
So Dominic researched their options via the internet. He started in the UK — but was worried as the law does not recognise surrogacy as a binding agreement on either side.
‘Even when the baby is genetically related to both intended parents, and not to the surrogate — as ours would have been — there is very little we could do to make our position 100 per cent water-tight,’ she explains.
‘We’d heard stories of British surrogates refusing to hand over babies. We did not want to risk the heartbreak of that.’
Similar rules applied in Australia, while in the U.S. the cost was prohibitively expensive, at around £40,000.
They researched South Africa, and there, too, the law was obscure. But India, it seemed, had different and unequivocal rules. ‘The surrogate is paid. She does a job. You don’t have to become friends with her,’ says Octavia. ‘She carries the baby and hands it over. It’s very clear-cut.’
They chose a clinic in Hyderabad because it was cheaper than rival organisations, and because it also offered a lawyer to negotiate the convoluted bureaucracy involved in securing the baby’s British passport.
Soon after signing up, a box of medication to boost Octavia’s egg production arrived at their home, and in March — Orlando was left with his maternal grandmother — they flew to India for treatment.
Octavia knew what to expect from the subcontinent. Although she spent most of her childhood in Oxfordshire — she attended Samantha Cameron’s alma mater, St Helen & St Katharine School, Abingdon — she lived briefly in India when her father, a pilot, worked there. Dominic, too, had visited on business. Without this knowledge, they admit they would have been alarmed by the dizzying mix of abject squalor and wealth they encountered.
‘If we hadn’t been prepared for what we’d find, we would have been worried,’ concedes Octavia. ‘The clinic was basic and compact, but clean. It was three or four storeys high and the surrogates live on the upper storeys.

Tender time: Octavia and Dominic Orchard, pictured at the birth of their son Orlando

Growing up fast: The Orchards at Orlando's six-month Christening

Three set to be four: The Orchards always wanted a sibling for Orlando - and now their dreams are coming true

‘We did not want to see their quarters: by Indian standards they would have been comfortable; by ours, they would not be considered remotely homely. But we knew our surrogate would be treated well and would be given food and nutritional supplements to help the foetus develop.’
Many believe such arrangements are exploitative, and question whether it is morally right to use uneducated, impoverished women to fulfil wealthy couples’ dreams of parenthood. But Octavia insists the arrangement is mutually beneficial. For her, the quid pro quo is the financial recompense — huge by the standards of impoverished Indians —_ the surrogate will have received.
Octavia and her surrogate were treated within the clinic, but in separate areas. Around ten British couples a year currently use its facilities.
There are 90 surrogates on its books, and it has produced 218 successful deliveries in the past four years.
Octavia’s eggs were harvested and fertilised with her husband’s sperm, before being implanted in the surrogate’s womb, where one embryo is now successfully developing.
Other fertilised embryos produced by the treatment are being stored by the clinic and the Orchards may use them for a third child in the future.
Octavia and Dominic were flying home when the operation to transplant the embryo took place.
They said they weren’t even tempted to glimpse the woman who would transform their lives by carrying their second child.
Now they are back in Hong Kong, where Dominic works. They hope to return to the UK soon — to live in Wimbledon where Octavia worked at an estate agent, or their native Oxford — to raise their two children.

Money talks: Wealthy Westerners are turning to surrogate mothers, and importantly eggs from beautiful Europeans

Meanwhile, all they can do is put their faith and trust in the expertise of the clinic, and fervently hope for a successful outcome to their venture. They are sent videos, photographs of their baby’s scans and details of its development.
They do not know its sex. Gender-testing is illegal in India because so many female foetuses are illicitly aborted. As the pregnancy progresses, they feel a little more relieved. But there is no euphoria: they are too wary to celebrate yet.
‘When we found out our surrogate was pregnant we couldn’t quite believe it, but as every stage is passed — the 12-week scan; the 20-week scan — we feel a little more relieved and the knot of tension in our shoulders starts to ease,’ says Octavia.
‘We thank God for our success so far, but we’re not jubilant yet. I’m itching to get the baby’s nursery organised, but I daren’t. This whole thing feels a little like an out-of-body experience. I do think about the baby but I try not to be consumed by it. To an extent I shut off.’
Orlando has been told he is to be a big brother, and is excited by the prospect. ‘He knows babies come from mummies’ tummies, but we haven’t told him any more yet,’ says Octavia. ‘At this stage he just needs to know he’s loved.
‘Eventually he’ll know mummy’s tummy was not working properly so we borrowed another lady’s tummy. My parents are writing a little book for him, setting it all out in simple language.’

Is it right? The baby-making factory in India gives a whole new meaning to the words 'surrogate mum'

When their baby is born in November, Octavia and Dominic will fly to Hyderabad. ‘We will not be at the birth. It’s a private thing as far as I’m concerned,’ she says.
‘I’m assuming that once the baby has popped out and been bathed, he or she will be handed to us. I’m sure the surrogate will see the baby, but she won’t breastfeed it or cuddle it.
‘We may briefly see our surrogate, too, and I will thank her. I’m certain she will have formed a bond with the baby — no woman who has carried a baby for nine months could fail to do so — but I do not anticipate there will be any problems handing it over. I’ve no worries. She certainly won’t want to extend her own family.
‘I know that we will treat our new baby exactly as we have Orlando. It will be born in a different country and carried in a different body, but it will be no less special, no less of a miracle. It will just have come to us via a very different route.’

Spreading Peace, Brotherhood Among Northeast Friends - Through Music

New Delhi, Aug 31 : India has repeatedly proven how multi-ethnic groups can co-exist without killing each other and it must continue to do so, believes Nagaland-based singer-composer Alo Wanth, who hopes to spread goodwill in the country and his northeast friends, through the "universal language" of music.

His songs talk about justice, peace and the need to strive for a better world - and through a concert in the capital Saturday, he wants to "build a bridge between people from different tribe, community, states and countries".

"Love for music can really unite and bring goodwill among different people. Many people from the northeast warned me about the crisis going on, but I think this will be a proof that there is peace and the authorities are in control and that the Northeast people are safe," Wanth told IANS.

The 31-year-old`s concert comes at a time when Assam is witnessing ethnic violence that has so far claimed over 80 lives. Thousands of people belonging to the northeast, but living in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and other southern cities, have been forced to flee.

Wanth believes the need of the hour is to maintain harmony.

"We know it`s easy to say it in words, but for those who have been hurt by the recent violence, I want to say that `Please forgive your neighbours`. Please remember no civilisation can move forward without forgiveness and hope for a better future. India has proven again and again that multi-ethnic groups can co-exist without killing each other. It`s time to remember that again," he said.

"I believe there were many miscommunications and wrong information that added unto the unrest and outcomes of the recent of the violence. It`s very important to have clear and free-flow communication to have better understanding of each other. I, as a singer am striving and will do so to bridge gaps between people from northeast and other parts of the country," added Wanth.

After studying music in the US, Wanth has so far released two albums – ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Life’.

His third album, `Discover Me`, which was launched in Nagaland in August, will also be released here Saturday at the concert. The event is being organised by Hi-Pitch Productions, which provides a platform to struggling talents from northeast.

With the current scenario of unrest in the country, our vision to reach out to various audiences across the country through music made more sense like never before," said Wanth, who plays modern rock and also contemporary jazz and blues.

Apart from the singer and his band, three other artists will also perform at the event.

Castrate Child Rapists: Mizo Women Rights Body

Aizawl, Aug 31 : The largest and most powerful women's organization in Christian-dominated Mizoram has sought castration as punishment for men who rape young girls.

The Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP), at its special assembly held in Aizawl on Thursday, adopted a resolution saying that any man who rapes a minor should be forcefully made impotent by castration.

The delegates, however, did not specify what method should be employed to render the rapist impotent or who would execute the punishment.

Unlike Meghalaya, Mizoram doesn't have a matriarchal society but women have a powerful voice at home and outside. MHIP translates to Mizo Women's United Forum.

At the special assembly, women felt punishments awarded to rapists by courts in accordance with the Indian Penal Code (IPC) weren't harsh enough to work as a deterrent.

The MHIP special assembly also passed a resolution discouraging all Mizo women — unmarried, divorced, widowed and married — from getting involved in relationships with married men and from being in homosexual relationships.

"If such cases are found and proved, the MHIP should take careful steps to ensure that such activities are stopped," the resolution said. MHIP president B Sangkhumi had earlier made an appeal to all the women in the state not to take married men as partners or lovers as the act can and often does destroy families.

On the issue of punishment for those who rape minors, many Mizo women even used the platform of social networks and sent SMSs to local cable TV channels saying that such criminals should be castrated so that they can never commit sexual crimes again.

Manipur Crackdown Against Foreigners

Imphal, Aug 31 : Manipur police has launched an operation to detect and detain the foreign nationals who illegally entered the border State today.

On the first day of the search operations conducted in some sections of the three valley districts, as many as 43 foreign nationals including 24 persons said to be of Bangladesh origin were who illegally entered the State were detected and detained in the custody as per the Foreigners’ Act 1946.

Inspector General of Police(Law and Order-I) L Kailun of Manipur Police speaking to mediapersons said that they have detected and detained some of the illegal foreign nationals after their verification in search operations conducted in some valley areas today. “The search operations will continue,”he added.

The officer also added that they will take up necessary action as per the Foreigners’ Act. Out of the arrested 43, 19 of them are said to be from Myanmar and they were detected from Lilong area in Manipur’s Thoubal district while the rest were apprehended from Hatta area in Imphal East district, he added.

Though the police officer didn’t specify the reason behind the day’s detection drive, the State Home Minister Gaikhangam had recently promised to check if any illegal migrants have made permanent settlement in Manipur.

Different civil society organisations have been raising question of illegal migrants outnumbering the indigenous population demanded immediate enforcement of Inner Line Permit System in Manipur taking into account of the challenges posed by unrestrained influx of outsiders to the indigenous people.

10 Detained in Bangalore, Hubli. For Northeast SMS?

By Santosh Kumar RB

Bangalore, Aug 31 : In a joint operation on Wednesday, police have rounded up 10 youth — including a doctor and a Bangalore-based journalist — in Bangalore and Hubli city over their alleged involvement in anti-national activities.

Bangalore unit of Central Crime Branch, Uttar Pradesh police and Delhi police carried out the joint operation and arrested the youth. The CCB confirmed that it has detained 10 persons regarding some serious crime, but refused to give details.

In Bangalore, six youth were picked up from Munireddy Palya at RT Nagar about 8 am. A team of police personnel in mufti nabbed them and took them away in a car. Another police team headed by CCB inspector NB Sakri picked up four youth, including a doctor, in Hubli. They are Imran Bahadduri, Dr Zakir Husain Sheik and Wahid Husain Kanakkanavara. All are in the age group of 26 years to 30 years.

The police did not reveal the particulars of the case regarding which they were detained. Sources said more youth were detained in other parts of the state in the same operation.

An officer who is part of the team said the youth have been detained only for questioning and the police might release them after interrogation. He said the police would arrest them if investigation revealed they were involved in the case regarding which they were being questioned.

The police have seized the computers, laptops, hard disks, mobile phones and other equipment of the 10 youth from their houses. Information stores in these devices may throw light on their involvement in the case.

Will Mary Kom Biopic Result in Lifting of Bollywood Ban in Manipur?

By Jayoti Soor

Bollywood filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and MC Mary Kom, ace boxer who has become a national hero after winning the Olympic bronze, arrived at an agreement to make a film on her life on Monday.

“The film is still in its infancy. So they wanted my inputs for the script and the rest of it, I leave it in the hands of professionals as they know the art of film-making better,” says Mary with a smile.

Mary hopes that this biopic serves as a source of inspiration to youngsters. “I hope that this film inspires aspiring sportspersons to take it up professionally and represent India at an international level,” says the mother-of-two at the Moms For Playgrounds, an initiative to raise awareness for the need of open spaces for the children of Mumbai.

“When I won the Olympic medal, I represented India. So, I want this film to bridge the gap,” says Mary Kom, who hails from Imphal and has been saddened by the recent exodus of the north-east people from the Indian mainland.

Hindi films have been banned in Manipur and Mary believes that when the film will be released, things will change for the better.

“It is based on my life and my struggles. As it is rooted in reality, I hope that the film will be welcomed in my homeland. And I wish it serves as a beacon of light for a lot of youngsters, who due to lack of infrastructure give up on their dreams,” she says with a confident smile.

The boxer loves playing guitar in her spare time and unwinds watching mushy movies or romcoms.

“Shah Rukh Khan is my favourite in romantic movies and Abhishek Bachchan has a unique sense of timing for comedies,” grins Kom. She’s also quite impressed with actor Deepika Padukone.

“Deepika has a keen interest in sports and we shared a few laughs at a recent event,” recalls Mary.

Dhaka Gets A Stake in Tipaimukh

Sinlung Says: The governments of India and Bangladesh cannot decide on what resources or dams they can take from the people. It is owned by people. Tipaimukh dam is a NO.

Guwahati, Aug 30 : The Centre has formally agreed to give Bangladesh a stake in the 1,500MW Tipaimukh hydroelectric project.

Official sources said this was decided in a two-day meeting of the sub-group on the project under the India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission in New Delhi on August 27 and 28.

The decision to constitute the sub-group under the Joint River Commission to go into all aspects of the project was taken on May 7 in New Delhi. External affairs minister S.M. Krishna led the Indian delegation, while Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni led that country’s delegation.

Sources said both sides finalised the terms of reference under which a study would be conducted in Bangladesh territory to assess the impact of the project.

During the meeting, India restated its offer to Bangladesh to take a stake in the Tipaimukh project and handed over the detailed project report to their delegation in this context.

A source said, “The Centre has reiterated the assurance, given at the highest level, that it would not take steps on the project that would adversely impact Bangladesh.”

The 1,500MW Tipaimukh Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project in Manipur has been embroiled in controversy, with stern opposition from Bangladesh.

The project, near the Manipur-Mizoram border, 500 metres downstream of the confluence of the river Barak and Tuivai in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, was given environment clearance in 2008.

Its execution, however, will involve felling of more than 78 lakh trees.

Though the forest advisory committee under the ministry of environment and forests had recommended that a sub-committee along with domain experts in the field of ecology, wildlife, hydrology and others might visit the project site to make an on-the-spot

Northeast Returns: Special Train From Guwahati

By Anup Sharma

Guwahati, Aug 30 : The North East Frontier Railway (NFR) will run a special train between Guwahati and Bangalore on September 1 to facilitate return of those students and workers who had left cities in southern India following apprehensions of a probable attack, the NFR said on Wednesday.

The Bangalore special will leave Guwahati railway station in Paltan Bazar at 1.15 pm. The train is expected to reach Bangalore on Monday evening, the source informed.

The special train will have 14 sleeper class coaches to accommodate maximum number of people, said an NFR spokesperson while talking to The Pioneer. The train, he said, will start its return journey from Bangalore to Guwahati the next day — Tuesday, September 4.

On August 22, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had requested the railway head in this part of the country to run some special trains between Guwahati and Bangalore to help those, who had returned from Bangalore and other cities earlier.

“A special train will leave Guwahati railway station on September 1 around 1.15 pm. The decision to run the special train was taken after the Assam Government asked the NFR to run special trains. However, we are not aware about any such demand for a special train between Guwahati and Bangalore,” the NFR spokesperson added.

The issue of running more such trains between the stretches depends on demands from passengers, he said.

The exodus of people of the North-East from southern cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai started from August 15 after rumours went viral online; SMSs and MMSs asked the North-East migrants to leave the respective cities before August 20 or face dire consequences.

Coming under pressure, the Karnataka Government had later arranged nine special trains from Bangalore to Guwahati.

The situation, however, improved later as the respective State Governments resorted to strict action against rumour-mongers and appealed to the people of the North-East to return to the States.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka had visited Assam on August 25 and Manipur on August 26 and assured people of the North-East of foolproof security in Bangalore and requested them to return to the State and resume work as well as studies.

He also met Chief Minister Gogoi and assured him that the people, who had fled the Silicon Valley of India, would be reinstated. He appealed to the CM to arrange special trains to facilitate return.

About 34,627 people from various parts of South India left for Guwahati from Bangalore railway station since August 15 in nine special trains.