Doron and his partner are an Israeli couple who paid around $140,000 to have a baby together using a surrogate in the United States. After welcoming their daughter home and introducing her to many of their friends, Doron realized that many gay couples would like to have a child, but can not afford those prices. Using his technological background, he decides to start his own business helping people have the babies they have always wanted by cutting the cost of surrogacy through outsourcing. That's right, Doron leaves the genetic selection up to the parents"”donors can be found online"”and then works with a lab in Israel to produce and freeze multiple embryos for selection. The embryos are then shipped to India to be implanted into the surrogates.
We follow the clinic in India where the women stay throughout their pregnancy, receiving nutrients and care, and we are enlightened about their reasons for participating. They are just women helping women according to the doctor who runs the clinic. Some women can't have babies, and other women can't pay for their children's school or home. The surrogacy only costs about $6,500 in India, but we are never clear how much goes to the clinic and how much money actually goes to the women. At the same time, we meet an online egg donor from Tennessee and her family, which gives us a glimpse into the motivation and pricing behind that part of the process. At times, the film goes into detail without explaining why; the family of the egg donor is an example.
Throughout the film, we watch something as intimate as baby creation becoming a business. At one point they discuss implantation in multiple surrogates for the same couple simply to increase the odds of success, but that also means they must address the risks of multiple pregnancies and abortions. I was pleased to see Doron a bit conflicted as I, too, was struggling with all that I was taking in.
The topic is fascinating, and I was totally engrossed. The film is short, which is normally nice, but I would have liked to have a bit more clarification about the cost comparisons and differences in the processes between Doron's experience and the business he created. All in all, I left informed while wishing for a bit more.
