Surrogacy in India

Gerry and Rhonda Wile have travelled halfway around the world to meet the stranger who could make them parents. They are just one of thousands of foreign couples who’ve turned to India’s booming surrogacy industry.

The petite woman in the tangerine-coloured sari confidently waves a hennaed hand at the couple entering a stuffy conference room in Mumbai’s World Trade Centre. “Mr. Gerry, come sit here,” Rekha Tayde commands in halting English, smiling broadly. “Come, come, Miss Rhonda.” Gerry and Rhonda Wile smile back, delighted. But they approach carefully, as if the woman is made of china, fragile and easily broken.

Gerry stands...