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There are countless of couples throughout the world who are longing for their own child. For those who cannot bear their own child, India is becoming a favorable destination for them.

Surrogacy for pay or “rent-a-womb” is booming industry in India. One of the main reasons that boost even more aspiring parents to opt this is the testimonials from happy couples Reuters reports.

“We are really grateful to our surrogate mother who managed to get pregnant and kept our little daughter healthy. She gave nine months of her life to give us a child,” said Rekha Patel who owns a restaurant in Britain.

In 2002, India opened up to commercial surrogacy for the very first time. Along with India, there are only few countries that are currently allowing women to be paid to carry another’s genetic child. Other countries include Georgia, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, and the U.S. However in U.S. the regulation of surrogacy varies from state to state.

“There is a need to regulate the sector,” said Dr. Sudhir Ajja of Surrogacy India, a Mumbai-based fertility bank that has produced 295 surrogate babies. 90 percent of its clients are overseas and 40% of them are same-sex couples.

“But if the new law tightens rules as suggested by the ministry of home affairs, which disallows surrogacy for same-sex couples and single parents, then it will clearly impact the industry and put off clients coming from overseas, ” he later added.

It is a low-cost technology, flexible policy and skilled doctors that make india as favourite destination for surrogacy.

However there is an alarming side of the story as well. The surrogate mothers are being paid far less than what is being charged to the couples.

“In most of these cases, the surrogate mothers are being exploited,” said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research that conducted the study.