Baby Breeding 101: Business Busted

By Jennifer Lahl, CBC President

There seems to be no end to the filthy bottom of the reproductive tourist trafficking industry. This story just broke, covering the bust up of a baby breeding surrogacy ring. Fourteen Vietnamese women had their passports confiscated and were being held in two houses while they gestated babies which were being sold by the company, Baby 101. Some of the women apparently volunteered, as they were promised $5,000 per baby. It was evident upon investigation that some of the women had been raped. Apparently the women were able to send an email to the Vietnamese embassy, which tipped off Thai officials and led to the women’s release. I hope this matter is being aggressively investigated; this most certainly is no isolated incident.

Which is why Eggsploitation is such an important film and part of a larger project within the CBC on the meaning of sex and procreation, the eugenic and exploitative reproductive technologies, and the commercialization of baby making. Additionally, debates are heating up in France and Australia as they review their human cloning and stem cell laws and are posturing toward paying women for their eggs for research.

A press release stating, “Controversial human infertility documentary finds fertile ground at Berlin’s European Film Market,” has opened more doors into European countries for wider release (have we mentioned that Eggsploitation has already been sold into 20 countries?!?). This one press release initiated a Skype phone call to me from a woman in Slovakia, who had heard about the film from a colleague in Finland. Now the film is being shown in Prague this month and in Stockholm in July.

Sadly, the reason this film is even more important is because of what the Slovakian woman told me during our chat. She informed me that the farther east you go into Europe, eggs are now being stolen from women. I paused and then asked, “How can eggs be stolen?” And the depravity was revealed. Women are super-ovulated, taken into the operating room for the egg-harvesting surgery, and when they wake up from anesthesia, they are informed, “There were no eggs to collect, so you won’t be paid your 50-60 euros.” There seems to be no bottom to the depths of depravity of this industry.

To that end, we are releasing a new and expanded edition of Eggsploitation and coupling it with our 2009 film, Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate. Both films are helpful, educational documentaries that address the scientific agenda which heavily depends on the female reproductive body and human embryos. I encourage you to get a set or two of these films and share them with friends in your network. I promise, you won’t be disappointed. And please consider sending a gift of support. We have big plans in store. Stay tuned!