Wombs for rent

The economic crisis and rising unemployment have prompted the appearance of unusual small ads in the back pages of the Romanian press, where "womb for hire" notices can now be found alongside offers of lungs and kidneys for sale. Under the headline "Surrogate mother rents womb," Adevărul reports that a 25-year-old married woman and the mother of one daughter in Brasov is offering to carry a child in exchange for 28,000 euros — a service that has already attracted interest from a sterile couple. The case of Andreea P. has highlighted the distressing situation of young mothers who are unable to find jobs, and the absence of Romanian legislation to regulate surrogate motherhood. Children born to surrogate mothers can be classified as abandoned at birth and put up for adoption, but there is no guarantee that adoption services will automatically grant rights to couples which include their biological fathers.