France, Oct. 7 -- On the top floor of an unremarkable office block along Nairobi's Lenana Road, a long mahogany table dominates a hushed boardroom. This is where the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) convenes when doctors are accused of crossing professional lines. The atmosphere is clinical: no flashing cameras, no political speeches, only files stacked neatly in manila folders. Here, the fate of Dr Sarita Sukhija, director of the Myra Clinic, will be decided.

Her case is unlike most that come before the board. Earlier last month, an Indian-Kenyan couple lodged a complaint against her clinic following the birth of their surrogate child. Their grievance was unsettling in its nature: the baby's skin was "too dark."...