Wombs on Sale : How Vulnerable Nepali Women Are Trafficked for Surrogacy in India

KATHMANDU : Renting out a womb for nine months can fetch up to 10 million Nepalese rupees (approx. $75,000 USD). To many, it sounds like an unbelievable figure, but it is the grim reality of a thriving illicit trade.

A recent, sensational investigative sting operation by the prominent Indian daily newspaper Dainik Bhaskar has exposed a dark transnational crime ring. Taking predatory advantage of poverty and economic vulnerability, brokers are trafficking young Nepali women to India, turning their wombs into commodities sold for millions.

The Anatomy of the Trade: Exploitation and Coercion
According to the findings, brokers operating out of Nepalese cities like Pokhara and Butwal identify and recruit women to fulfill the parental aspirations of affluent Indian couples who cannot conceive naturally.

• The Staggering Profit Margin: While Indian couples are charged a massive 10 million NPR per child, the actual surrogate mothers receive a meager 2.5 million NPR at most. The brokers pocket the remaining 7.5 million NPR among themselves. 
• Beyond IVF: Most alarmingly, the investigation revealed that this underground business is not strictly limited to In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or artificial insemination. When required, some women are reportedly coerced or prepared to conceive directly through sexual intercourse.
• Active Networks: Video evidence released by the Dainik Bhaskar key local fixers, including Sushma Thapa from Butwal, alongside Dipu and Om from Pokhara. Thapa brazenly claimed to have already dispatched at least five individuals-ranging from vulnerable 20-year-olds to married women-into the cross-border trap.

Nepal’s Past as a 'Fertility Hub' and Legal Vacuums
To understand how this crisis crossed borders, one must look at Nepal's own turbulent history with commercial surrogacy. Years ago, under the influence of powerful elites and major private hospitals, Nepal briefly emerged as a loose "fertility hub" for foreign nationals. 

The practice gained global notoriety during the devastating 2015 earthquake, when striking images of foreign same-sex couples leaving Kathmandu with newborns triggered international and domestic uproar. Under mounting pressure, a landmark ruling by a Supreme Court bench led by then-Chief Justice Sushila Karki ordered a strict ban on commercial surrogacy, deeming the commercialization of human wombs unethical.

However, comprehensive legislation was never formally enacted. Instead, surrogacy went into a paper-based "suspension," paving the way for unregulated fertility and IVF centers. Legal accountability stalled, famously mired in controversies involving high-level political and legal figures shielding complicit medical practitioners. 

Shifting Borders : From Domestic Loopholes to Transnational Crime
Left with a weak regulatory framework, state inaction, and open borders, brokers simply shifted their operations. Rather than hosting foreign clients inside Nepal, they now traffic impoverished Nepali women across the border into India, where the clandestine trade continues out of reach of local oversight.

When international media findings were brought to light, Nepal’s law enforcement agencies appeared startlingly unmoored. Asked about the multi-million-rupee transnational racket, Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Spokesperson Anupm Shamsher Rana stated: "We have no information about this so far. If this is happening, we will investigate it."

Having long battled the scourges of human trafficking, forced labor, and organ trade, Nepal now faces a deeply disturbing new frontier: the commodification of human reproduction and the systemic exploitation of women's bodies across international borders.

(Note: This report has been translated and adapted for an international audience with the assistance of AI tools, based on an original investigative report.)