I think I read about stuff like this in various sci-fi books. Dominion of the Draka series by S.M. Stirling being the most recent.

Can I outsource those child support payments?

kidsizedcoffin: Can I outsource those child support payments?

I wonder if we'll start seeing kids with designer labels?

I would rather outsource it to Juno

Excellent! The vessels for my clone army have been revealed!

Is this where there will be pics of hot Indian chicks?

. . . Anand, a place famous for its milk . . .

Handmaid's Tale?

Where did they find Indian women who weren't already pregnant?

So people in developing countries don't do the pregnancy thing? This joke doesn't work.

I am a Nazi.

I for one would like to volunteer my services for those who don't particularly care where the genes in their kid are coming from...

Indian chicks get me goin =)

I'm available as a sperm donor for any hot indian moms-to-be.

can't wait for a follow-up in fifteen years when all these surrogate babies are making Fark headlines.

that's assuming Fark doesn't get outsourced then ruined

Finally!

A circumstance where the vagina being a clown car is actually applicable.

Mugato: Where did they find Indian women who weren't already pregnant?

hahahahahahhahhaha

Wow. Simply wow.

Just how utterly reprehensible and irresponsible of a human being must you be to pay all that money for someone overseas to pop out a baby for you when the home country is teeming with unclaimed children?

If you seriously have that much love to give away, then may I suggest giving it to someone who already needs it now?

I lay a little blame on the surrogate mothers for going along with this, but who wouldn't do the same thing in their position? Making more money than the average person makes in 15 years? And it doesn't even require a skill. Just go through the hassles of pregnancy and childbirth. I guess one can't blame the surrogate mothers too much.

But the selfish parents-to-be who feel that they must pop out another baby at the expense of another soul? For shame! What horrible parents to put their own needs before the needs of a child.

more here:

Link (new window)

People do it because they are desperate for the money. In a way these women should get some credit. They are helping out their families with the money they recieve.

My dads friend has been to many countries, last jan we were in India and he told me "India has to be one of the most poorest places I have ever been to, its worse than Mexico". These women have my respect. To ruin their body to take care of their children and their families...hey you gotta do what you gotta do in order to survive.



/indian
//no Im not renting out my womb!

Why not skip the middle woman and marry a hot Indian chick.

From TFA:

Suman Dodia, a pregnant, baby-faced 26-year-old, said she will buy a house with the $4,500 she receives from the British couple whose child she's carrying. It would have taken her 15 years to earn that on her maid's monthly salary of $25.

Daaaaym.

No wonder software engineers who make $15,000pa over there are seen as freaking high society.

If her wage is around usual minimum wage there, and $15,000pa is an average decent salary for a software engineer, then...*crunches numbers*...according to that ratio between what minimum wage is and what a professional should make, I should be on around 1.5 million per year.

Kuildeous

But the selfish parents-to-be who feel that they must pop out another baby at the expense of another soul? For shame! What horrible parents to put their own needs before the needs of a child.

just abort the damn kid than. or would that be selfish, too?

So these kids are not American citizens, even though they are brought back to the States, right? Wouldn't being born in India make them Indians? No joke about rag vs. feather intended.

Melgania: From TFA:

Suman Dodia, a pregnant, baby-faced 26-year-old, said she will buy a house with the $4,500 she receives from the British couple whose child she's carrying. It would have taken her 15 years to earn that on her maid's monthly salary of $25.

Daaaaym.

No wonder software engineers who make $15,000pa over there are seen as freaking high society.

If her wage is around usual minimum wage there, and $15,000pa is an average decent salary for a software engineer, then...*crunches numbers*...according to that ratio between what minimum wage is and what a professional should make, I should be on around 1.5 million per year.

My brother makes less than 12,000 dollars per year, and he's considered to be very well settled.

Wow - Imagine how long you'd have to wait on hold to get a baby!!

this is not news - it's repeated news

In the Year 2525...

Rodeodoc: So these kids are not American citizens, even though they are brought back to the States, right? Wouldn't being born in India make them Indians? No joke about rag vs. feather intended.

I believe if both the biological parents are American citizens then the child is automatically one.
My mom is an indian citizen and my dad is an american citizen(converted, born in india). My brothers and I(born in america) automatically received indian citizenship because both of my parents were born in india.

These babies may recieve dual citizenships but again the laws might have changed.

Is Fark moderation also outsourced?

/'peat

Fun Fact: India is no more crowded than Europe, its just that it has more area.

This is very cool from a cost/business perspective. A woman could work right up until her surrogate's due date without a break, potentially leaving the working woman more financially well off than if she had the baby herself and had to take time off due to pregnancy stress/complications. Also, this way, once the surrogate has the baby, she can rest and recouperate with no baby responsibilities and the working mother will not be tired from 9th months of pregnancy and will have lots of time to prepare for the baby til she can have materninty leave. The only thing missing is the breast milk.

Interesting article, news to me. I can't really see the problem with this. You can say it's exploitation, but going the other way, I'd be willing to do many things for ten years salary. This is certainly a special case, but in general, preventing companies from outsourcing isn't doing the people in outsourced countries any favors. Forcing equal pay between local and outsourced workers makes outsourcing uneconomical, and so India and the like, in such scenarios, end up with less jobs and lower pay.

Raskolnikov's Angst: Finally!

A circumstance where the vagina being a clown car is actually applicable.

This brings the whole new meaning of Vande Mataram. (of course in a literal sense)

Kuildeous: Wow. Simply wow.

Just how utterly reprehensible and irresponsible of a human being must you be to pay all that money for someone overseas to pop out a baby for you when the home country is teeming with unclaimed children?


This.

But, on the other hand, if you look at the big picture, this situation could be better than some possible alternatives.

I remember a story about a news anchor here in Australia who had trouble with her fertility and went to massive lengths to concieve. I can't remember the exact costs, time and effort involved, but I just remnember thinking, you could feed a million people in the Third World with the money that was spent getting that woman pregnant.

And why? Ultimately it was just her and her husband's genetic egoism. Instead of adopting a poor unwanted child, they spent a fortune (even by Western standards) making their own baby.

At least in this case, people in desperate, grinding poverty are getting a chance to bring in some money for their families. So in the bigger picture, I don't think it's really so terrible. Just the act of even having a child in the normal way in the West eats up huge amounts of resources, and if you really want to play the selfish card, you could say that anyone who wastes so much resources on their own genetic egoism instead of helping out poor orphans (in the Third World or at home), goes in the same selfish category.

This is why selling organs is and should always be illegal.

Not only will there be some poor 3rd world dirt farmer ready to pawn his kids into the trade, but there will also be asshat Westerners ready to take advantage of that.

/to fend off the argument, no this isn't 'selling organs'. But damn close. Renting it for a while...

Kuildeous: Wow. Simply wow.

Just how utterly reprehensible and irresponsible of a human being must you be to pay all that money for someone overseas to pop out a baby for you when the home country is teeming with unclaimed children?

Now, now. You forget that these people are our genetic superiors.

signaljammer: Fun Fact: India is no more crowded than Europe, its just that it has more area.

Actually, it is more densely populated than most European countries.

Wiki.

European Union density: 112 per sq km
India density: 336 per sq km

You might be thinking of China. That's where the population density is closer to the European average (at 137 per sq km). India is more like the most densely populated bits of Europe (ie the Low Countries, etc).

Seems like 99% of the fabulous birth defects I see are from India.

What type of screening do these ladies go thru?

FTA..."`There is this one woman who desperately needs a baby and cannot have her own child without the help of a surrogate."

No one needs a baby. You may want to have of your own, but if you're unable, why not adopt a child or become a foster parent? There are plenty of children who are without parents in this world without you selfishly thinking you need to have your own. Instead of spending large amounts of money on something like this, use it adopt or foster a child.

Thank you, come again.

I just want to say that I called this (and that it will eventually also be used by wealthy, fertile women who want to keep at their careers and preserve their figures).

That is all.

wilbret: Seems like 99% of the fabulous birth defects I see are from India.

What type of screening do these ladies go thru?

They are using the egg & sperm from the couple paying to have the surrogate carry the child for them. I'm no expert, but since they aren't using the surrogate's egg, I don't think any genetic defect could be passed from her to the child. However, one could hope that the couple has undergone screening to make certain they aren't carrying any genetic defects. While not all genetic defects can be found through screening, it's better to be safe than sorry.

i thought if god didn't want you to have children.....he wouldn't let you have children.

I hate those infertile christian fundamentalist couples who are like 'oh we already have 3 children and we need fertility treatments to have a 4th....oops, we are preggers now with 7 babies! thank you jeebus '

that would only make sense if jeebus was the doctor

I drunk what: Thank you, come cum again.

FTFY

Bathia_Mapes:
No one needs a baby. You may want to have of your own, but if you're unable, why not adopt a child or become a foster parent? There are plenty of children who are without parents in this world without you selfishly thinking you need to have your own. Instead of spending large amounts of money on something like this, use it adopt or foster a child.

This is what I mentioned in my previous reply above...

When people make any kind of argument regarding selfishness with not having kids, I point it out to them that their own lifestyle choice of spending a small fortune of having their own kids in the West is actually a rather selfish act indeed, in terms of all the poor and deprived children the World over, and how much resources it squanders.

I actually think the World would be a much better place if a large percentage of people in the developed World stopped breeding and instead sponsored children in developing countries to get fed, clothed and educated. Then we could use migration to correct the population density imbalances between different parts of the World - without having to import unwashed peasants. These people would be better educated and globalised in mentality than the masses in the Third World are now.

I know that all sounds too naive, idealistic and impractical. And possibly condescending to cultures in the developing World. But I like to think global, and I think the biggest obstacle to global progress is more to do with socio-economic lag between different parts of the World than any real, deep differences between cultures and peoples.

I'm recommending The Bohr Maker,by Linda Nagata, as my contribution to the sci-fi undertone of this thread.

I expect this to become a lot more popular in the future, not because of infertility, but because a lot of women don't have the best design for bearing children.

That is, their internal organs and bones are such that they cannot breech birth, and their insides are mauled by the fetus, even with a caesarean delivery, which can result in severe lifetime health problems for the mother.

Other women see to be designed for easy pregnancy and delivery, and can pop out rug rats by the dozen.

So it is not unreasonable for women for whom it would be troublesome to subcontract their pregnancies, paying a healthy sum to those more fit for the effort.

Bathia_Mapes:
No one needs a baby. You may want to have of your own, but if you're unable, why not adopt a child or become a foster parent? There are plenty of children who are without parents in this world without you selfishly thinking you need to have your own. Instead of spending large amounts of money on something like this, use it adopt or foster a child.

We have friends who went the route of foster parents and were getting ready to adopt the child they had been fostering for most of the child's life. The mother had already signed away her parental rights, but then her parents decided to interrupt everything. It was a heartbreaking time for our friends, and situations like this are why more of the right people don't foster (don't get me started on the ones just in it for the monthly check from the state). Fortunately, the parents couldn't be bothered to go through all the interviews and visits, and the adoption finally went through, but our friends decided it was enough and stopped fostering.

whammer: I expect this to become a lot more popular in the future, not because of infertility, but because a lot of women don't have the best design for bearing children.

That is, their internal organs and bones are such that they cannot breech birth, and their insides are mauled by the fetus, even with a caesarean delivery, which can result in severe lifetime health problems for the mother.

Other women see to be designed for easy pregnancy and delivery, and can pop out rug rats by the dozen.

So it is not unreasonable for women for whom it would be troublesome to subcontract their pregnancies, paying a healthy sum to those more fit for the effort. but because women want to maintain their tight packages which gets stretched by giving birth.

FTFY

Melgania: signaljammer: Fun Fact: India is no more crowded than Europe, its just that it has more area.

Actually, it is more densely populated than most European countries.

Wiki.

European Union density: 112 per sq km
India density: 336 per sq km

You might be thinking of China. That's where the population density is closer to the European average (at 137 per sq km). India is more like the most densely populated bits of Europe (ie the Low Countries, etc).

Isn't the real population density in china a bit higher than that, since the majority of the population resides in just 1/3 of the country?

/Not great with lies
//damned lies
///or statistics