- http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/10/the_worlds_baby_factory?page=full
- http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/10/india’s_last_chance_parents
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
10-Feb-12
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
In India — the World’s Baby Factory — where fertility treatment is cheap, regulation is weak, and childlessness is considered a curse, recent high profile cases of advanced age pregnancies have highlighted how women, even across small towns and villages where health facilities are scarce, are taking extraordinary risks to conceive babies.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Draft copy of the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill — a proposed new law to regulate India’s booming fertility business; website of controversial fertility specialist Dr. Bishnoi — where he glorifies old women who have taken life-threatening risks to become pregnant; medical reports and clinic literature from Dr. Patki’s small-town clinic in Kolhapur which attracts reproductively challenged couples from across India.
Explain types of human sources used.
Interviews with Mr. Biranje, a sugarcane farmer, and his two wives; Interview with Dr. Patki, described as “god” by the Biranjes for holding out hope that they “won’t die barren” even at their old age; Interviews with various patients at the clinic — from a woman who feared her husband would dump her if she did not produce an heir to a Moscow-based businessman whose wife conceived at the clinic after 19 failed IVF attempts elsewhere.
Results:
0
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
0
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
0