Somy has parted with her second baby today – to another set of parents, who are in fact her baby’s biological parents.

She thinks of the baby’s softness around her bosom and cries again.

“Forgive me, my child …. it’s the only option I have to escape abject poverty.”

She wonders aloud if what she is doing comes close to flesh trade. Her mother mildly admonishes her, asking her not to be harsh on herself. She is still in a precarious state of postpartum health. Somy has not missed her mother’s joyful expression on receiving the transaction alert. The promised amount has been transferred.

They will soon return to their country. The contract does not allow her to meet the baby, or be in her vicinity again. She might see those cute videos of celebrity kids on Instagram though.

A surrogate mother is different from a mother.

Somy is tempted…