Scott Carney visited an Indian refugee camp known as Kidneyvakkam, named because so many of its female residents have sold their kidneys:
One of these women, her name was Rani, gave up a kidney because her daughter had actually tried to commit suicide because she was in a very difficult marriage … In order to treat her, the hospital needed a certain amount of cash — I think it was about $1,000 — and [Rani] didn’t have any money so she did the only thing she could, which was to sell her kidney because an organ broker just sort of approached her very quickly. And that’s a pretty common situation.
NPR features an excerpt from Carney’s new book, The Red Market, where he tallies his total worth according to his organs.
The Dish 