India is a leading centre for surrogate motherhood, partly due to Hinduism’s acceptance of the concept. The world’s second test tube baby was born in Kolkata only two months after Louise Brown in 1978. Rising demand from abroad for Indian surrogate mothers has turned “surrogacy tourism” there into a billion dollar industry, according to a report by the Law Commission of India.
Surrogate mothers (L-R) Daksha, 37, Renuka, 23, and Rajia, 39, pose for a photograph inside a temporary home for surrogates provided by Akanksha IVF centre in Anand town, about 70 km (44 miles) south of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad
First time surrogate mother Ambika, 28, rests with her biological son, inside a temporary home for surrogates, provided by Akanksha IVF centre
Nayana Patel (C, bottom), a gynaecologist, shows a magazine to surrogate mothers inside a temporary home for surrogates, provided by Akanksha IVF centre,
Karishma Barnar, 22, who is pregnant with her second child as a surrogate, prepares to eat a meal with her husband Babu inside a temporary home for surrogates, provided by Akanksha IVF centre
Surrogate mothers rest inside a temporary home for surrogates, provided by Akanksha IVF centre
Madhu Makwana (2nd L), 35, who is a first time surrogate mother, attends her baby shower ceremony inside a temporary home for surrogates provided by Akanksha IVF centre
Sharda, 35, who is a first time surrogate mother, rests inside a temporary home for surrogates provided by Akanksha IVF centre
Embryologist Harsha Bhadarka, displays a container of frozen embryos inside a lab at the Akanksha IVF center
Surrogate mothers wait for a routine examination with doctors at the Akanksha IVF center in Anand town
Gynaecologist Nayana Patel, carries out an ultrasound examination on Renuka, 23, a surrogate mother, at the Akanksha IVF centre
Briton Rekha Patel, 42, holds her week-old-baby girl Gabriella, as her husband Daniele Fabbricatore, 39, watches inside an intensive care unit at the Akanksha IVF centre
Gabriella, the week-old daughter of Rekha Patel, 42, and Daniele Fabbricatore, 39, sleeps in a hotel room in Anand town, about 70 km (44 miles) south of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad August 26, 2013. Gabriella was carried and delivered by Naina Patel, an Indian surrogate mother. India is a leading centre for surrogate motherhood, partly due to Hinduism’s acceptance of the concept.
