V I E T N A M
Vietnam's 'Mothers For Hire' Jolt State, Society
by Tran Dinh Thanh Lam
HO CHI MINH CITY — Startled by cases of young migrant women offering themselves as 'mothers for hire' to childless couples, Vietnam's authorities and academics are struggling to understand the roots of the new trend.
They blame social conditions, economic cycles and the erosion of morals, but are yet to come to grips with the scale of the practice.
One who sought a 'mother for hire' is Tran Thi Ngoc Hanh. Desperate for a child but unable to conceive, she decided this was her only alternative. It would cost a great deal, but Hanh thought that her husband's happiness was worth the expense.
The couple have been married for 25 years, and Hanh has often borne the blame for their being childless. When she heard of the 'mothers for hire' arrangement, she decided to look for one.
A middleman introduced Hanh to Tham, a 25-year-old worker from the central province of Binh Dinh, and a deal was quickly sealed between the two women. "I gave Tham 15 million dong (about 960 U.S. dollars) in advance, and she agreed to get pregnant from my husband," Hanh recounted.
"After giving birth to the baby, Tham would receive another 15 million dong and would give the baby to me so that I could raise it as mine," the 47-year-old housewife added.
Nor was that the end of the arrangement. "I paid for the hospital costs and health care for Tham, and promised an extra 15 million dong for a son," Hanh told the Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourer) newspaper. "It's better than having a foster child as the baby will bear the same blood as my husband's and is therefore dearer to us."
The newspaper's exposé of the practice shocked Vietnam to such an extent that the authorities called for a discussion to understand the issue and the conditions that have given rise to it.
Nguyen Thi Oanh, a Ho Chi Minh City-based sociologist, calls the practice "alarming". Recalling past cases in Vietnam of mothers being forced to sell their children to raise money, Oanh said they however "could not be compared with these unmarried girls who agreed to deliver babies just for money".
Dr Le Thi Quy, head of the Sex Development Research Centre at Hanoi's College of Social Sciences, has noted that the practice "not only affects concepts like love, marriage and motherhood, but also breaks the Law on Marriage and Family".
Attacking the persona of the 'mother for hire', Quy called her "a kind of disguised concubine, a kind of cloaked prostitute". She said, "The hired mother has committed two sins: prostitution and child trafficking."
Opinion on the issue varies from condemnation, by officials in charge of women's affairs, to a call from social workers to re-examine the conditions of women workers. Meanwhile, sociologist Le Minh Tien said that living away from their families and communities, the migrant women have no further moral obligations towards these institutions, and hence may take to earning money via this practice.
The trend may well have begun two years ago. Tai, a taxi driver, said that he had at the time helped a woman sell her unwanted baby to a couple from Ho Chi Minh City. She got 40 million dong for the infant. "The idea appealed to other needy girls (working in an industrial zone) and they commissioned me to find sterile couples who would pay for their babies," Tai recalled.
Tai said he has introduced at least 30 barren couples from the city to what he calls the "service". That this is the latest dubious method used to raise money by women who migrate to work in the zones is a view gaining currency.
Earlier, this was where one could find 'wives for hire' — needy women agreeing to cohabit with wealthy men for a fee and for a fixed period.
Ngoc is 20 and till recently worked in a garments factory. Her salary gave her enough to live on in the city and she was able to support her parents too, who live in the nearby Ben Tre Province. Now that she has been sacked, together with other workers during a trough in the business cycle, she said, "I have no choice but to accept Tai's offer."
Tai's clients are usually sterile women who fear their husbands may abandon them, and choosing the 'mother for hire' route, said Tai, seems to them to be a safe alternative. The buyers of the 'service' feel reassured by the fact that the 'hired mothers' are usually indebted, and will not refuse giving the newborn away without further claim on the child.
"For each transaction, I earn three million dong, two million from the clients and one million from the woman," Tai said. He sees no immorality in the trade, "Because after all I have assisted these unfortunate people solve their problems."
Oanh acknowledged that there is no law prohibiting the practice, and that social workers can at best prevent it by advising migrant women against it. The president of Vietnam's Union of Women, Ha Thi Khiet, however is not convinced that economic necessity forces the women to become 'mothers for hire'. Growing consumerist behaviour, she believes, is responsible.
Quy blames all those involved in the transactions, but particularly the wives. "They have created favourable conditions for their husbands to commit adultery and violate Family Law," she said.
Yet a choice made under pressure can go very awry, as Hanh can testify to. Her husband has deserted her to live with Tham, and has taken the infant too. "It's no use creating a scandal," said Hanh, and added sadly that it is she who created this relationship in the first place. (END/Copyright IPS)
