What is Surrogate?
“Surrogate in human trafficking” refers to illegal practices within surrogacy arrangements where individuals, typically the surrogate mothers and/or the children, are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. Females (many are minors) are forced to carry another person’s baby or once birth occurs, the baby is taken away and sold without the mother’s consent.
Surgency has become an enormous industry. China’s one-child policy has led to an overabundance of males seeking female partners, yet there are not enough females. In China and other countries, males outnumber females 5 to 1. In Europe and the United States, many wealthy couples are having medical issues conceiving, or their age prevents them from having children. So, they seek younger women to be surrogates. Traffickers are seeing this issue, and organized criminal groups are now turning to human trafficking as a source of profit from surrogates.
Trafficking of women as surrogates is conducted in three ways. First, an advertisement for young surrogates is needed. Young women will volunteer to be surrogates, only to learn after delivery that their baby is stolen and the money promised is not there. Second, young women who are already pregnant will be captured and held against their will. Upon delivery, the baby is taken and sold without the consent of the mother. Third, young women are taken, captured, and raped multiple times until they become pregnant, upon delivery of the baby. The baby is taken and sold on the black market. After a period of rest, the young woman is also sold on the black market, into the sex trafficking life. Traffickers receive double payment, for the baby and for the young woman. Many of these young women are between 15 and 25 years old. About half are minors.
