A man paid to recruit surrogates shares his misgivings

International surrogacy is even more complicated than it appears.

Last week I had a long conversation with a man in China whose job it is to recruit international surrogates. The surrogates travel to a third country, live there for a year or so, and get paid to carry a child for somebody else.

The man struck me as intelligent, thoughtful, and honest. He seemed concerned and conflicted about his role.

His account reminded me that people get caught up in various parts of this industry for all sorts of complicated reasons. But it also underscored for me that some of the worst things we imagined about international surrogacy may now be coming true.