Mumbai: Surrogate motherhood is among the latest in a long list of roles being outsourced to India, where rent-a-womb services are far cheaper than in the West.

Here are some key facts about surrogate motherhood.

What Is Surrogate Motherhood?

The term surrogate means 'substitute'. A surrogate mother is a woman who carries a child for infertile couples, or others unable to conceive their own baby.

How is It Done?

In traditional surrogacy the surrogate mother is artificially inseminated with the sperm of the intended father or sperm from a donor. In gestational surrogacy, an already fertilised embryo from the biological parents or donors is transferred to the womb of the surrogate mother.

Global Picture

Surrogate motherhood is illegal in Italy, banned for commercial purposes in Australia, Spain and China, and is allowed with restrictions in the United States, France and Germany. India is currently framing new regulations.

Ethical Issues

Protecting the rights of surrogate mothers from being exploited, defining the rights of children born from surrogacy, and stopping commercialisation of surrogacy are key issues.

Booming Business in India

Surrogate mothers in developed countries can charge between $20,000 and $30,000. Fertility clinics in India charge around $10,000 for the procedure, including the payment to the surrogate mother.

Legal Differences

Indian medical guidelines allow doctors to implant five embryos into a surrogate mother. In Britain the maximum is two, while many European countries are moving towards a single embryo. India's current laws allow the surrogate mother to sign away her rights to the baby as soon as its delivered. The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) estimates that the reproductive business could be a $6 billion-a-year industry soon.

(Sources: ICMR and American Infertility)