Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do

by Michael J. Sandel

The western Indian city of Anand may soon be to paid pregnancy what Bangalore is to call centers. In 2008, more than fifty women in the city were carrying pregnancies for couples in the United States, Taiwan, Britain, and elsewhere.56 One clinic there provides group housing, complete with maids, cooks, and doctors, for fifteen pregnant women serving as surrogates for clients around the world.57 The money the women earn, from $4,500 to $7,500, is often more than they would otherwise make in fifteen years, and enables them to buy a house or to finance their own children’s education.58 For the prospective parents who go to Anand, the arrangement is a bargain. At around $25,000 (including medical costs, the surrogate’s payment, round-trip airfare, and hotel expenses for two trips), the total cost is about a third of what it would be for gestational surrogacy in the United States.