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Surrogacy
gives birth to NEW HOPE
Women who rent their womb for
surrogate pregnancy are slowly shaking off their inhibition and
fear of social ostracism to bring joy to childless couples
Radhika Oberoi | TNN
The conversation is halting and prodded on by an enthusiastic
Dr Anoop Gupta, who booms, ‘‘Get to know each other, now!’’ But
Maria and Andrew (names changed), British citizens of African
origin have already warmed up to Seema, (name changed), the
35-year-old from Gorakhpur who has offered herself as a surrogate
mother for the assisted birth of their child. Her bright red bindi,
sindoor and the presence of her husband at the meeting are
reassuring signs of a good woman, worthy of carrying their
baby.
The couple has waited 10 childless years before making the
difficult decision of opting for surrogacy at the Delhi IVF
Fertility Research Centre in Bengali Market. ‘‘We liked what we
saw on the clinic’s website, and when we came here, we knew the
place was right. The doctors spent a lot of time with us —
something that wouldn’t have happened in Teesside,’’ says Andrew,
a PR professional and eager father-to-be.
Dr Anoop Gupta, who runs the clinic with his wife Alka, an
embryologist, as well as a team of gynaecologists and surgeons,
has delivered around 3,500 babies from 1994 to 2008 through
Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). ‘‘Around 3-4% of the
cases involve surrogacy. We are very careful in picking cases that
genuinely require a surrogate. Women who opt for the method simply
because they don’t want to go
through a pregnancy, lose their figure or slacken in their
careers are immediately refused.’’ Dr Gupta also admits to an
international clientele of around 25 couples as well as singles.
This year, a Hollywood director has approached them. But the
doctor prefers not to get carried away by the clinic’s growing
popularity abroad. ‘‘It’s rewarding enough to help someone create
a little person who looks exactly like him or her,’’ he says.
Surrogate mothers, often riddled with financial problems, are
slowly shaking off the fear of ostracism. ‘‘We are flooded with
requests; but it’s best for couples to find their own
surrogates,’’ he says. Seema, a mother of three children, is a
first-time surrogate who believes that ‘‘Ma banna to saubhagaya ki
baat hai, bhale hi janm deke kise aur ko dena pade (I feel
fortunate to carry a child; so what if I have to give the baby
up.)’’ She and her husband admit to doing this for money — the
couple will be paid around Rs 3.5 lakh. But, they also believe
they have been handpicked by God to bring joy into someone else’s
life.
Despite her husband’s approval, Seema is uneasy about facing
the unrelenting glare of friends and family when the pregnancy
begins to show. ‘‘My husband has four brothers, none of them know
about this. We will move to Delhi before the pregnancy becomes
obvious,’’ says Seema.
Unlike Seema, Lata (name changed), who is also at the clinic,
is pregnant with her third surrogate child. Her first surrogate
baby was born in 2005, when she responded to an ad placed by a
childless couple in a women’s magazine. Living separately from her
husband, who promptly divorced her when he discovered she was
pregnant and found the surrogacy theory implausible, Lata made Rs
80,000 for the first baby. ‘‘I have two children of my own, and
the money isimportant,’’ she says. The second time round she made
Rs 2 lakhs. The third and final time — the ART Bill 2008 (see box)
prohibits a woman from acting as a surrogate more than thrice —
she is pregnant with the child of an Israeli male and an anonymous
Indian egg donor. ‘‘Patients from abroad pay more,’’ she says, of
the Rs 3 lakhs she plans to charge only to cover delivery
expenses.
The rent-a-womb industry is estimated at around $445 million
in the country. While in the US, the process could cost as much as
$70,000, the cost of procuring a womb is drastically reduced here.
Dr Mohinder Kochhar, the first to start an IVF center in north
India at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, is squeamish about this highly
commercialized approach to having a baby. Referring to the ART
Bill 2008 as providing ‘‘some sort of method to the madness, in
the absence of a law,’’ she is encouraged by a provision that
allows friends and relatives to volunteer as surrogates. ‘‘A
sister or a best friend will not become surrogates for money, but
a complete stranger is probably motivated by the economics of it.
And someone known to the couple will also take more care of
herself during the pregnancy.’’
Dr Gupta is also of the opinion that an unknown surrogate may
make unreasonable demands, like an advance for a flat. ‘‘But with
a friend or relative, the emotional bonds may be stronger and the
surrogate may find it hard to give up the child,’’ he explains.
Despite the legal, moral and social complexities that shroud
surrogacy, there’s no stopping people from exploring the
possibility of becoming a parent.
INFERTILITY
Around 8% of infertile couples need medical
intervention involving the use of Assisted Reproductive
Technologies (ART)
Success rate of ART procedures — In vitro Fertilization (IVF)
and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) — is under 30%
THE DEAL
A woman agrees to carry a
pregnancy (achieved through ART), genetically unrelated to her and
her husband, to its completion and hand over the child to the
genetic parent(s)
ART Draft Bill 2008
Genetic parents to adopt a child born through surrogacy
Surrogacy be recommended for patients for whom it is medically
impossible/ undesirable to carry a baby to term
Payment to surrogate mothers should cover all pregnancy-related
expenses
ART clinic must not advertise surrogacy arrangements. The
responsibility should rest with the couple or a semen bank
A surrogate mother should not be over 45 years of age
ART clinic must ensure (and document) that the surrogate woman
satisfies all the testable criteria (sexually transmitted or
communicable diseases that may endanger the pregnancy)
A prospective surrogate
mother must be tested for HIV and shown to be seronegative for
this virus just before embryo transfer
No woman may act as a surrogate more than thrice in her
lifetime
A foreigner or foreign couple not resident in India, or a
non-resident Indian individual or couple seeking surrogacy in
India shall appoint a local guardian who will be responsible for
taking care of the surrogate during and after the pregnancy
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