Aug 10: After the IT boom, its the “baby business” that is booming in Bengaluru now. Childless couples from around the world are arriving in the city to “rent a womb” and pay a surrogate mother to have their babies. International agencies, which are fully in the loop about Bengaluru’s facilities, liaison between cuuples in their countries and surrogates in the city to see that the entire cycle of birth and delivery to the biological parents goes without a hitch.

Aiding the baby business are the direct international flights to the city and its rising reputation as a destination for medical tourism. The women—the backbone of the business—are usually from poor families who need the money they can make from renting their wombs for a sum. They have few complaints as they are well looked after during the pregnancy. The only hitch is they need to harden their hearts and let the babies go, severing all ties with them once they are born .

“We take care of the food, accommodation and the well being of these women, even arranging for them to be counselled during the pregnancy. We also make sure that all tests are done and doctors’ appointments are not missed,” says Benhur Samson, CEO Surrogacy Abroad Inc, an international surrogacy agency based in Chicago that liaisons with hospitals and agencies here to find the ideal surrogate mother and act as bridge between her and the genetic parents.

The surrogate mothers are housed together in suitable locations where their day to day activities are taken care of. They have collective puja and yoga sessions and are constantly counselled not to develop attachment to the baby they are carrying in their womb. “We don't even let them see the baby after delivery and nor are they allowed to breast feed them as it could lead to emotional attachment,” says Dr Ramesh B, CEO, Dr Ramesh Hospital. The babies are introduced to artificial feeds right after birth and are taken abroad to the homes of their genetic parents about a month later.