British couple expecting child after using Indian 'baby factory'

A British couple are expecting a child by a surrogate mother from an Indian "baby factory", it was reported today.

Dominic and Octavia Orchard went to a clinic in Hyderabad to get round a ban in Britain on commercial surrogacy, according to the Daily Mail.

The baby, due at the end of the year, will be theirs biologically, while being born to an impoverished 31-year-old Indian woman "renting out" her womb, the newspaper said.

The couple know the woman's name and that she has no husband, but have opted not to become acquainted with her.

Mrs Orchard, 34, said: "Our baby has no biological connection to the surrogate. Her womb is just the receptacle in which it is being carried. Perhaps it sounds cold and rather clinical, but this is a business transaction."

Mrs Orchard and her 35-year-old husband have not been told how much the surrogate will make from the £20,000 cost of the treatment, but estimates range from £3,000 to £6,000, the newspaper said.

"I hope my surrogate will do something wonderful with the payment," Mrs Orchard said.

"She could educate her children with it; even buy a small house. It makes me feel good that we could help that happen."

The couple, who live in Hong Kong but intend to return to the UK, to Wimbledon or Oxford, have a three year old son, Orlando, who was conceived naturally.

However, for medical reasons, Mrs Orchard can no longer become pregnant, and it was that that led them to consider surrogacy.

PA