They say when it rains it pours. Sadly, there has been a monsoon of bad news out of India. The Times of India reports:

Thirty-five-year-old Rohit Singh (name changed) had never thought that using a surrogate mother and trying to fulfill his wish of a child would land him in big trouble. Singh, a resident of Kardhani area, lodged an FIR on Saturday, saying the woman and her family members were demanding more money to give him the child and even threatened to kill the child if he did not cough up the amount.

Singh’s FIR said the woman from a village near Diggi in Tonk district got pregnant after a physical relationship with him after signing a contract for R[ohit’]s 2 lakh. The woman and her family members had already taken R[ohit’]s 2 lakh from him. However, they are now demanding 5 lakh extra.

According to the police, Singh earned his living by distributing stationary items to various schools. “Singh says that even after eight years of marriage they could not conceive a baby. In July 2010, Singh was returning home from a school in Phagi when he gave a lift to a man called Shambhu. On the way, Singh told him about his childless plight,” said sub-inspector Sher Singh.

Shambhu then bought a CD of movie ‘Chori Chori Chupke Chupke’ which revolves around the story of surrogacy. “Shambhu told Singh he should watch the movie at night and contact him the next morning if he wanted to get a child through a surrogate mother. Singh and his wife watched the movie and contacted Shambhu the next day,” the officer said.

Shambhu made Singh meet a woman named Deepa, her mother and brother in Bhipur village in Tonk. “Singh said Deepa agreed to give birth for R[ohit’]s 1.5 lakh. Singh paid R[ohit’]s 50,000 in advance. He had [a] physical relationship with Deepa for two nights[,] following which she became pregnant. By April 2011, Singh had paid the remaining amount of R[ohit’]s 1 lakh.

In May 2011, the woman reportedly gave birth to the child. However, she refused to hand over the child saying she wanted 50,000 more [from Rohit]. Singh gave that amount too. However, when she demanded more money, he filed an FIR.

The report is confusing, and not just because of the translation errors. What does appear to be clear is that this was a very atypical and particularly shady arrangement and not coordinated by any agency or supervised by a physician. There have been dozens of similar stories around the world where an Intended Father impregnated a traditional surrogate. Not surprisingly when every established protocol and guideline is ignored, problems like this are inevitable. Particularly given how vulnerable and desperate prospective parents are. So while it is fashionable to pile on the surrogacy industry in India given their seemingly endless parade of problems, this case would appear to be aberrational and not further evidence of a systemic problem.