For most people, the word, surrogacy, would probably recall nothing more serious than the happy-family media images of Shah Rukh Khan and wife posing with their latest child, born of a surrogate mother. The actor had purportedly helped lessen the stigma attached to surrogacy by opting to have a baby this way. While it must have been noble of Mr Khan to try to dispel dark notions, there is more to the issue of surrogacy than Bollywood flimflam. The matter potentially involves unfair medical practices, exploitation of women, and abandoned or trafficked children, although there is no clear data available to prove any of this - a fact which is alarming in itself. On the one hand, surrogacy is a thriving industry in India, with international clients choosing this country as their favoured destination because the package comes cheap here, given the easy availability of poor women ready to use their bodies in exchange for money. On the other, there is no definitive legislation guiding the business, thus opening up endless possibilities of exploitation. The Supreme Court brought attention to this lack when it recently asked the government to clarify its stand on commercial surrogacy. The assisted reproductive technology bill, meant to rein in the fertility clinics, was poised to be tabled in the last winter session of Parliament. Its fate still hangs in balance: in the meantime, the clinics do good business, notwithstanding a few women left without adequate compensation or a few babies abandoned after birth by the commissioning parents.

Even if the ethical objections to commercial surrogacy are kept aside, it would still be a contentious topic because it concerns two of the most vulnerable groups in India - women and children. Poverty-stricken women may be lured by the promise of big money to become surrogate mothers, but there is no guarantee that their interests will be safeguarded by the private clinics. What happens if a woman miscarries? Will she still get the money? What about post-partum care? It is unlikely that the clinics will have anything to do with the women once they have delivered. Experts say that the risk of babies being born with congenital diseases is higher in the case of surrogacy - which suggests a trail of unwanted children left behind by parents who came looking for tailor-made babies. The much-flaunted phrase, 'Make in India', starts sounding sinister when considered in the context of the surrogacy market.