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The Current

Of Mothers and Merchants: Documentary Repeat

Canadian couples struggling with infertility are increasingly booking a passage to India. A surrogate can be hired there for a few thousand dollars. But the Indian authorities face their own struggle over whether this is empowerment -- or exploitation....
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Canadian couples struggling with infertility are increasingly booking a passage to India. A surrogate can be hired there for a few thousand dollars. But the Indian authorities face their own struggle over whether this is empowerment -- or exploitation.

Part Two of The Current

Of Mothers and Merchants: Documentary Repeat

Couples struggling with infertility know how heartbreaking and expensive it can be. In-vitro fertilization, embryo freezing, and adoption all drain bank accounts. Many infertile couples are turning to international surrogacy-- paying a foreigner to carry and deliver a baby for them. It's usually done with the commissioning couple's egg or sperm. So there is no genetic link between the surrogate and the baby.

It's illegal in Canada, but there's nothing stopping would-be Canadian parents from going abroad to rent a womb. Many go to India. There, a surrogate can earn between 2-thousand and 10-thousand dollars; a significant sum in India.

But there's a lively debate over whether surrogates are exploited ... or empowered.
Tanya Springer traveled to India to look into this story. Her documentary is called Of Mothers and Merchants. It first aired on The Current in March.

Last Word - Michael Bryant Promo

Coming up tomorrow on The Current, the former Attorney General of Ontario recalls the 28 seconds that transformed his life.

Michael Bryant was charged with dangerous driving and criminal negligence causing death following the death of bicycle courier, Darcy Allan Sheppard in 2009. The province's top justice official was suddenly in the back of a squad car wearing handcuffs. Charges were dropped.

On tomorrow's show, Michael Bryant tells us how the experience has changed him.


Other segment from today's show:

Vancouver Considers Anti-Odour By-Law

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