In India, where surrogates have no parental rights, decisions pertaining to termination are usually in favour of intended parents. So if they want a termination and the surrogate doesn't, the latter has no choice but to relent.
That is insane. If she doesn't abort, she's stuck with a child that nobody wants. Way to go, reproductive freedom!
Intended parents are also forbidden from seeking the services of multiple surrogates at a time. Even then, the CSR report highlights instances of couples hiring more than one surrogate and 'cherry-picking' the healthiest child. "There are cases where two-three surrogates were tried for one commissioning parent, who then chose to keep the healthiest foetus and abort the rest. The surrogates were handed abortion pills and didn't even know about it. They were simply told that they'd miscarried," shares Mishra. What makes such cases worse is that surrogates often have to forfeit a significant portion of their fee if they miscarry. Some are not even paid if they fail to conceive.
