By Rebecca Haimowitz & Vaishali Sinha
In San Antonio, Lisa and Brian Switzer risk their savings with a Medical Tourism company promising them an affordable solution after seven years of infertility. Halfway around the world in Mumbai, 27-year-old Aasia Khan, mother of three, contracts with a fertility clinic to be implanted with the Texas couple's embryos. MADE IN INDIA, about real people involved in international surrogacy, follows the Switzers and Aasia through every stage of the process.
With its dual focus, this emotionally charged, thoroughly absorbing film charts obstacles faced by the Switzers and presents intimate insights into Aasia's circumstances and motivation. As their stories become increasingly intertwined, the bigger picture behind offshore outsourcing of pregnancies¡ªa booming, unregulated reproductive industry valued at $450 million in India alone¡ªbegins to emerge. So do revealing questions about international surrogacy's legal and ethical implications, global corporate practices, human and reproductive rights, and commodification of the body.
Reviews
~ "[A]n extraordinary film ¡ akin to a psychological thriller, inspiring both the family and the viewer to question their moral and ethical scruples, and to wonder whether they could do the same¡. A touching and important document." - Woodstock Film Festival
~ "This perspective on international surrogacy is a common one but also an overly simplified one, and MADE IN INDIA delves into the complexities¡ It exposes the glitches in the system as communication breaks down¡, yet it also looks at the joy that both parties get from creating a family together." - Real Screen
|