Inside the baby factory

These women are pregnant with someone else’s child. As the rent-a-womb industry in India is booming...

Lying on their beds, stroking their swollen, pregnant bellies, women chat and while away the days and weeks until they give birth.

But this isn't a labour ward in a maternity hospital, and these aren't ordinary expectant mothers. They're residents of a surrogacy house, part of a fertility clinic in the town of Anand, in western India. Their wombs have been "rented" by wealthy childless couples from across the world - many of them from the UK.
Here, up to 60 women at a time, housed in three buildings, live throughout their pregnancies until they deliver and hand over the baby to its new parents.
Once they've given birth, they'll be paid their "fee" by the Akanksha IVF Centre, which runs the houses, and return to their homes and families, most likely in one of the most impoverished parts of India. They'll never see the child in their womb grow up, never read it a story or kiss it goodnight.
As a surrogate, Indu is able to provide for her own family
Sadly, these women aren't surrogates just for altruistic reasons. They are motivated by money and a need to support their own family. One successful pregnancy earns them over £5,000 - equivalent to an average year's salary.
The surrogacy business is booming in India, fuelled by the desperation of childless couples prepared to pay for parenthood, and the country's grinding poverty, which forces women to sell their wombs. And it's increasingly British couples paying for them.
According to the head of the clinic, Dr Nayana Patel, who trained as a gynaecologist and founded the surrogacy clinic in 2003, her UK client base is on the rise. Just one British couple sought her help in 2004, but last year, it rose to 10. And so far this year, Dr Patel, 51, has already helped seven UK couples have a baby this way.
Indu Chandraknt, 29, is a resident at the house and four months pregnant with twins. Struggling with morning sickness she tries to keep down some fruit, conscious she must nourish the babies inside her.
She's left her husband Subhash and their two children aged ten and six in her hometown of Nadiad, 20 miles away, to live here and commit to her "job" for the nine months of her pregnancy.
It's hard to believe a mother would leave her own children for so long to carry another woman's child. Yet for Indu, the pain of missing her children is worth it for the financial reward.
She'll receive 375,000 rupees (£5,200) for her "work". She'll be able to buy a brick house, fund her children's education and feed her family for years to come.
In other words, this surrogacy will dramatically transform her family's life for the better, helping them out of the poverty they live in.
She also gets 2,000 rupees (£28) a month for food and essentials while she lives in the house, and the parents can give her as much extra money as they want - in the UK, payments to surrogates are restricted to "expenses".
"This money is like winning the lottery for someone like me," Indu tells us through a translator.
"My husband brings home an average of 3,000 rupees (£42) a month - we could barely afford to buy food. But my sister had been a surrogate, so when she told me about it, I didn't hesitate."
Indu had lengthy interviews with the clinic before she was approved asa surrogate. With the support of her husband, she had medical tests and counselling, before meeting Dr Patel.
Within weeks, Indu was called back to the clinic. Here she met the would-be parents - in this case, the couple were from Canada.
After being impregnated with their embryo, Indu was taken to the surrogate house, where she will stay until she gives birth in December. As with any pregnancy, there are of course health risks involved, although here she has access to the on-site medical team.
Indu has plenty of company at the house, with 24 other pregnant women living there. At first glance, it seems like a happy place until you remember that the women are effectively selling their bodies to help feed their families.
With four women to each room, the two-storey house is bustling with chatter. There's a constant smell of bread and spices from the irregular meal times to accommodate all the different cravings. And while the house is rather run-down, to these women, many of whom live in wooden shacks with no running water or electricity, it's luxurious.
There's a sense of sisterhood among the surrogates
The women have bonded over their mutual desire to improve the lives of their families. Hundreds of miles from their homes and loved ones, a sense of sisterhood runs through the house, for they have no one but each other to turn to for comfort and reassurance that they're doing the right thing. But Indu's confident about what she's doing.
"These babies aren't mine so I'll never get emotionally attached like I did with my own," she says. "But while they are inside me, I will treat them as my own and nurture them as best as I can. I know I'll do a good job," she adds.
Indu's lack of emotion is typical of every surrogate here. It's a job, they say. One that pays well. And, increasingly, these payments are coming from the UK. But why are so many British couples seeking help from India's surrogates?
Last-chance baby
After years of trying for a baby, in 2004, Susie*, 42, and her husband Phil*, 37, from Wales were told that they could never have children.
"You can't prepare yourself for those words; they were heartbreaking to hear," says Susie, who is a lawyer. "Like most women, I'd never expected to have problems getting pregnant when I was ready."
"After four failed rounds of IVF, we tried adopting," says Susie. "In the UK, the guidelines have recently been relaxed, but back then we were rejected because we're a mixed-race couple [Susie is part-Indian, Phil is white]. So we tried adopting in India, but we were rejected because we're British. We faced one hurdle after another. We'd all but given up hope of ever having a child."
Then last year, a contact in India's adoption services suggested surrogacy to them. Although it wasn't something Susie and Phil had contemplated, after some research on the internet, they flew to India to meet with Dr Patel.
"She was so optimistic and caring, I knew as soon as I met her that we were doing the right thing. And surrogacy in India seemed more straightforward than in the UK - there are fewer restrictions."

Surrogacy is a job that gives them pride

Susie endured more treatment to retrieve her eggs, but none were viable so an Indian egg donor was found. Phil's sperm was used to fertilise it and in October last year, their embryo was implanted into one of the clinic's surrogates. All for the substantial fee of £14,000, of which around £5,000 was paid to the surrogate.
Susie's surrogate was a 27-year-old mother of three from Anand. The women stayed in touch throughout the pregnancy, with Susie visiting her at the house.
"It's a typically shabby Indian house and could do with a lick of paint, but it was the friendly atmosphere that struck me. The women were happy and well looked after," says Susie.
"I've never really felt guilty about paying a women for her womb. I knew how much my surrogate not only wanted to help me but also give her family some kind of financial security. And seeing how relaxed they all were in the house was just confirmation that none of them had any problems with it."
As her baby grew in another woman's womb, Susie had to accept she wasn't the one feeling its first kick, and it wasn't her stomach that was swelling with new life.
"I'd had to cope with so much by that point, all I was focused on was holding my baby at the end of the nine months, not what I was missing out on," she says.

Wanted and loved

Susie and Phil's baby boy was born five weeks early in June this year, weighing 5lb 7oz.
"We received an email from Dr Patel which read: 'Congratulations, you're parents!'" remembers Susie.
"I know it's not how most people find out they're parents, but we were so delighted we didn't care."
Their son, James*, was over a week old by the time Susie was able to arrange a visa and flights.
"I was desperate to see him and hardly slept that week. But I knew he was being well cared for by the clinic's nurses," she says. "Seeing him for the first time I was just mesmerised. I sobbed with joy."
Registered as the mother on his birth certificate, Susie plans to tell her son how he was conceived when he's older. She believes he has a right to know how much he was wanted and loved.
"Our family and friends have been very supportive," she says. "But I know some people will disagree with it, which is why we've decided to remain anonymous, but as long as all parties are happily consenting adults and are fully aware of the situation and consequences, what harm can there be?"
Suman Raisingh, 31, has just been inseminated for the second time. She's waiting to find out if she's pregnant.
"With the money I made from the first time, I managed to buy a new house," Suman says. "It has made my family so happy. I'm doing it again so I can provide more for my children.I want them to have opportunities that I never had.
"I don't care what other surrogates say, of course it's hard giving the baby away, especially when you've felt it grow inside you for nine months. It doesn't matter that it isn't biologically your own, it still feels like your own. The only thing that helps is knowing you have your own family to worry about."
Above: Dr Patel with one of the clinic's newborns; below: this is Suman's second surrogacy
First time around, Suman didn't tell her family what she was doing, but they know now.
"My neighbours don't approve of what I do," she says. "I'm disliked in my area, but I don't care. They're very narrow-minded - they don't see the good. If they took the time to understand it properly, they would see how wonderful a thing it is, both for my family and the woman I'm helping."
Dr Patel fervently believes in not only helping women to have the child they're so desperate for, but also helping the surrogates who are in her care.
"I have 57 pregnant surrogates right now," she says. "Their services should be appreciated and recognised. I'm so proud of the women who come tobe surrogates in my clinic.
"Don't get me wrong, I've had many sleepless nights over the controversies surrounding surrogate mothers, but I see my services as a win-win situation. I'm giving happiness to all the parties concerned.
"Surrogacy is a job that gives the women pride, self-esteem and financial benefits; they can be proud that they are helping their families live a better life," Dr Patel adds.
Whether or not everyone agrees with Dr Patel, she certainly has no shortage of volunteers queuing up to rent out their wombs.
Back at the surrogate house, Indu is busy trying to find a comfortable position to sit in. She's already planning her second surrogate pregnancy after she gives birth in December.
"If this one goes well, I'll definitely be back," she says. "I'm changing my family's life by doing this."