CGS-authored
The 11-year-old Calabasas, California, business is called Planet Hospital. Billing itself as a "medical tourism" company, its website informs readers that its purpose is to "send patients to affordable surgery destinations around the world."
"Instead of a destination, you choose a procedure," it advises. "Instead of a hotel, you choose a surgeon and ultimately a hospital."
Should your quest be for a baby, rather than a new kidney or lung, Planet Hospital tells shoppers that for a fee ranging between $23,000 and $36,000 - less than half of what it would cost in the US - they'll find you a surrogate. "The surrogate acts as a rented womb, and none of her genetics transfer to the child," the site continues. Indeed, as long as the would-be-parents - Planet Hospital's reproductive services are mainly marketed to heterosexual couples - can provide their own egg and sperm, the company emphasizes that the baby will be genetically theirs, unmarked by the nine-month gestational way-station they used.
The countries providing these "rented wombs"? The top sellers are India, Mexico, Panama and Thailand. And...
"Instead of a destination, you choose a procedure," it advises. "Instead of a hotel, you choose a surgeon and ultimately a hospital."
Should your quest be for a baby, rather than a new kidney or lung, Planet Hospital tells shoppers that for a fee ranging between $23,000 and $36,000 - less than half of what it would cost in the US - they'll find you a surrogate. "The surrogate acts as a rented womb, and none of her genetics transfer to the child," the site continues. Indeed, as long as the would-be-parents - Planet Hospital's reproductive services are mainly marketed to heterosexual couples - can provide their own egg and sperm, the company emphasizes that the baby will be genetically theirs, unmarked by the nine-month gestational way-station they used.
The countries providing these "rented wombs"? The top sellers are India, Mexico, Panama and Thailand. And...