Made in India

Directed By Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha

About the human experiences behind the phenomena of 'outsourcing' surrogate mothers to India.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
In San Antonio, Lisa and Brian Switzer risk their savings with a Medical Tourism company promising them an affordable solution after seven years of infertility. Halfway around the world in Mumbai, 27-year-old Aasia Khan, mother of three, contracts with a fertility clinic to be implanted with the Texas couple’s embryos. MADE IN INDIA, about real people involved in international surrogacy, follows the Switzers and Aasia through every stage of the process. With its dual focus, this emotionally charged, thoroughly absorbing film charts obstacles faced by the Switzers and presents intimate insights into Aasia’s circumstances and motivation. As their stories become increasingly intertwined, the bigger picture behind offshore outsourcing of pregnancies—a booming, unregulated reproductive industry valued at $450 million in India alone—begins to emerge. So do revealing questions about international surrogacy’s legal and ethical implications, global corporate practices, human and reproductive rights, and commodification of the body.
Rebecca Haimowitz is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has screened across the world. She has received support from the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, Chicken & Egg Pictures, the Fledgling Fund, Fork Films (Abigail Disney), the New York State Council on the Arts, and more. She Directed & Produced “62 DAYS”, a documentary about a brain-dead pregnant woman who was forced to remain on life support against her wishes. That film premiered at the inaugural Meet The Press Film Festival with AFI and aired on PBS/World Channel’s “Reel South.” Rebecca is the Co-Director/Producer of the award-winning feature “MADE IN INDIA,” which premiered at the Hot Docs International Film Festival, won “Best Documentary” at numerous film festivals, and aired on PBS in 2012. Rebecca received her MFA in Filmmaking from Columbia University's Graduate School of the Arts, where she was awarded faculty honors and also worked as a screenwriting Instructor. Her feature script, “JENNY ANYMORE”, won faculty honors at Columbia. And her short narrative film “FOLLOW ME” screened at SXSW and Woodstock Film Festival. Rebecca is an Assistant Arts Professor in the Collaborative Arts and Open Arts Department at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she teaches various Filmmaking courses. She is committed to creating powerful films that challenge and provoke.