Google Baby

I'm not just sweet-talking Google here, y'all, I'm referring to a documentary that will be airing on HBO2 this week (which I'll obviously miss as we all know I am indefinitely sans cable TV).  I listened to a great NPR podcast on "Google Baby" this morning on my walk to work.  Israeli Documentarian Zippi Brand Frank was chatting and taking calls about her glimpse into the outsourcing of surrogacy to India.  Sounds cliche, but apparently tons of westerners are doing it these days.  According to her interview, having a child through a surrogate mother in the US can cost parents $150,000+, while outsourcing the entire process to India (keep in mind, we're talking about American eggs, American sperm, via an Indian hoo-ha) costs somewhere around $25,000.  (Here's a great WSJ piece on it if you're interested).

Dr. Navna Patel was also on NPR chatting about her clinic in India, which employs hundreds of women as surrogates for strangers' babies.  Despite the complete lack of ethical regulations in India, it seems to be a booming business and, according to Patel, a real "win-win" situation, giving the Indian surrogates tons of cash (equaling around $5,000) to send their kids to school, build a house, or whatevs.

Maybe this was what my professors were talking about when they said there were easier ways to get rich than being a lawyer?  Yikes.