Mumbai: The milk cooperative movement began in Anand and empowered women in rural Gujarat. In 2007, Anand is scripting a very different story through women like Pushpa.

Pushpa is a surrogate mother and her womb is for hire. She will bear somebody else’s child for a price. Pushpa found out about surrogacy while visiting a friend in Kaival Hospital in Anand and life has changed for her since then.

“I came home and told my husband. He first refused but then I told him that if we get the money will be able to have a house of our own,” says Pushpa.

Like Pushpa, Suman Ben too needs money for a better life. The Rs 50 her husband earns daily is not enough to support their family. Suman’s first surrogate pregnancy failed, but delivering a child could mean a better future and so she's trying again.

Also Read:  The Surrogate Motherhood Debate

"I don't care for what people say; I think surrogacy is a very human thing to do," says Suman. "We called for a meeting and explained to everyone that his was not a wrong thing. People accepted this and now the same people who criticised me are opting for surrogacy."

Surrogate mothers make anything between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per birth, the rates varying from city to city. Surrogacy in India is also simpler and cheaper than in the developed world. India has become the preferred destination for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), a technique in which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the woman's womb, because it has the latest technology and it is cheap.

Cheap Place to Hire Wombs

“Foreign couples come here because the cost of IVF in India is cheaper—it is 10 times less expensive. It could take three months to get an appointment with an IVF consultant abroad but here they can have an appointment within a week,” says Dr Sunita Tandulwadkar, a consultant at the Ruby Hall Clinic in Surat.

Ruby Hall is one of the many clinics in India where women who cannot give birth can opt for surrogacy. Even women who would like to have children without pregnancy can opt for surrogate mothers.

What about the surrogate mothers and the couple who have hired their wombs? Dr Naina Ben Patel, who runs the Kaival Hospital in Surat and is considered a godmother by surrogate mothers for the help she has given them, says the relationship between the couple and the surrogate is special.

Also Read: Can't Get Pregnant

"I would like to help them all throughout my life and the way we are trying to build up this support group for the surrogates and build up a fund for the surrogates," says Dr Patel.

She believes that commissioning parents should come forward to help the surrogate mother of their child. She believes the relationship between the couple and the surrogate is special.