Made In India Documentary
Director: Rebecca Haimowitz & Vaishali Sinha
Year: 2011
Country: India
Rating: N/A
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This is the first feature documentary to show the personal stories of the real people involved — following their journeys throughout the entire surrogacy process. ?Aasia is a 27-year-old mother of 3 who lives in a one-room house in a slum in Mumbai. She laughs with disbelief when she first heard of surrogacy. "A child without a man?! How can that be? There has to be some kind of a… ‘relationship,' right?!" Aasia's decision to become a surrogate - to do so without her husband's consent even - debunks any simplistic characterization of her as an exploited victim. Lisa & Brian see themselves as fighters: "In the US, if you're struggling to have a child, you have to be a lawyer or a doctor to afford this. It's not fair." They believe hiring an Indian surrogate is their only chance to have a child of their own, and they are sure that they will help Aasia just as she helps them. But when facing accusations of exploitation, Lisa and Brian must defend their choices. "Walk a mile in my shoes before you judge me," Lisa commands, staring into the camera. As Aasia and the Switzers' stories grow increasingly tied together — the bigger picture behind the globalization of the Reproductive Industry begins to unfold - revealing questions of citizenship, human rights, global corporate practices, choice, reproductive rights, commodification of the body, legal accountability and notions of motherhood. This film reveals the legal and ethical implications behind their choices, and presents the conflict between the personal and the political dilemmas of international surrogacy.