Tuesday, 30 September 2014

How to deal with failed IVF

The introduction of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) more than 30 years ago has made parenthood possible for millions who otherwise would never have been able to conceive. When your body says no to in vitro, you at least have options like surrogacy to discover and still have child with your own genes.

It is understandable that an IVF procedure requires an enormous emotional commitment at each level of the program, whether or not IVF is successful. From a personal experience, it was observed when the couples were undergoing IVF in Raipur, failed IVF leaves broken heart.

What if experiencing the failure of your last IVF is the key that begins to end the misconceptions? What if spending time with your tender broken heart can not only help balance your hormones, but can help you heal every other failure you have yet to heal? 

Technical Truths

IVF patients need to be prepared for the fact that about 15-20% of pregnancies miscarry, and the risk of miscarriage after in vitro fertilization is probably the same as for natural conception. The reason the IVF miscarriage rate sometimes appears to be higher is that an IVF pregnancy is diagnosed long before it normally would be in the case of a natural pregnancy.

Most women who conceive on their own do not test themselves for pregnancy until they have missed their period, whereas with IVF the diagnosis of pregnancy is made before the woman misses a period. One should remember, however, that a pregnancy is not confirmed until the presence of a gestational sac has been diagnosed by ultrasound. If this criterion is used to verify pregnancy, then the miscarriage rate with IVF is no greater than that of the population at large.

Ask yourself. You are not a quitter right?

But miscarriage can have a positive side, however. Painful as it is to the couple, the very fact that they conceived at all indicates they are likely to be able to do so again. It is reasonable to expect that although a successful pregnancy was not achieved on the first try, the fact that they could initiate a pregnancy means that their overall chances of having a baby will increase on subsequent IVF attempts.

A failed IVF or a canceled in vitro cycle can be the first step of real healing. Don’t blame it on assisted reproduction for the rest of your fertility journey.
The physical demands of IVF ranging from the annoyance of hormone shots and blood tests to the discomfort of egg retrieval for the woman and the need for the man to produce a semen specimen on demand, all add to the emotional stress associated with the process. 

So, be emotionally prepared and call for support from your family throughout the treatment cycle. It will help both partners cope more effectively with the physical demands on the woman.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

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Pahlajani Surrogacy India: Raipur - Steadily Emerging as Fertility Destinatio...

Pahlajani Surrogacy India: Raipur - Steadily Emerging as Fertility Destinatio...: How surrogacy became popular in Chhattisgarh?  The journey of infertile couples end in Raipur to seek surrogacy assistance after Pa...

Raipur - Steadily Emerging as Fertility Destination


How surrogacy became popular in Chhattisgarh? 

The journey of infertile couples end in Raipur to seek surrogacy assistance after Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Center provided services fertility assistance with in-house embryologist and IVF/ICSI services. With rare combination of state-of-the-art medical infrastructure and potential IVF and surrogacy options in Raipur, it has gradually fueled the international demand. Raipur can be termed as a bastion for couples wanting to ply their gametes at cheaper rates. With low traffic frequency rates, uber medicinal and infrastructural at hospitals, Raipur has become one of the favorite destinations for foreigners wanting to undergo fertility treatment.

Dedicated team of doctors and devoted surrogate mothers attracted more and more couples every year to Raipur for IVF. Slowly but steadily, Raipur has emerged as a destination for fertility tourism. It is among one of the rapidly developing cities in country, the burgeoning idea of medical tourism parallelly has caught the imagination fertility tourists living in geographically dispersed cities towards the state.

It was observed that medical tourists were more liberal than ever for undergoing treatment in Raipur, after several infertile couples from USA, Europe, Africa and even neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Afghanistan came here it to find the cure. Success stories of the IVF and surrogacy in Raipur has put the doubts of couples to rest, who are otherwise skeptical about the treatment because of the obvious complications associated to it. Also, the cheap IVF treatment offered in Raipur has warded off the discomfort of pocket burning fees demanded in the first world countries. Visit counts of tourists tripping Raipur has multiplied in past one decade, with most of them returning with assured pregnancy results. The city has won an international recognition after high ratio of infertile couples was blessed with children.

The day commercial surrogacy was declared legal in India it also opened the flood gates of all the inhibitions related to surrogacy and IVF in the country. After facing a tough rebound from less liberal countries, medical tourism has emerged as a successful intersection of inexpensive and medical infrastructure in Raipur. In years, the city has witnessed high influx of tourists seeking medical care willing to travel the tribal land. Skewed population distribution in metros, and commercialized health care has locomoted the infertile tourists towards Raipur. The infertility hospitals have been able to preserve their appeals for assuring best treatment to patients. A taboo associated with IVF and surrogacy is dying a fast death after Raipur was appended to the list of best known IVF and surrogacy destinations.

Fertility problems can have a devastating emotional impact on couples. Some couples will conceive naturally, in time, but for those who do not, the pain and loss can be immense, and have a sudden and significant negative impact on relationships. Infertility is a multi-layered and complex phenomenon, and a number of issues are involved for the people living with it, as it spans the biological, emotional, physical, social, financial and psychological aspects of lives and relationships. Couples going through the treatment journey can feel stigmatised because of their infertility, that it is still a taboo subject, which makes them feel somehow they have failed.

Their reasons for not having children are varied, often deeply personal – and sometimes, circumstantial. Around 20 per cent of pregnancies end in miscarriage – and yet most women never reveal they have had one. We find out how couples have tried to deal with their grief and meet a pioneering doctor who is looking for solutions to recurrent problems.

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Center is committed to bring world-class services in assisted reproduction including IVF in Raipur and IVF for Odisha people and other adjoining states. For low cost IVF in Raipur, comparatively higher surrogacy rate Pahlajani IVF Center provides comprehensive services in IUI, IVF-ET, ICSI, Blastocyst, IVF treatment, egg donation, surrogate motherhood, male infertility treatment, semen banking, embryo freezing, sexual psychological problem, PCOS, MESA, PESA, TESA, Hormone Analysis, Laproscopic surgery, Hysteroscopy surgery, laser assisted hatching, and embryo biopsy.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

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Monday, 29 September 2014

Changes in Surrogacy Tourism in India and Raipur

Commercial surrogacy is a booming industry in India and in recent years ranks of childless foreign couples looking for a low-cost, legally simple route to parenthood have been joined by gay couples and singles.

India was a popular destination for gay couples seeking children till the year 2011 when Indian decriminalised consensual sex between homosexuals.

However, in 2012, the rules were revised and reformulated for foreign couples. It said that foreign couples seeking to enter into a surrogacy arrangement in India must be a "man and woman (who) are duly married and the marriage should be sustained at least two years".

While the government has been pushing the country as a medical tourism destination, the issue of wealthy foreigners paying poor Indians to have babies has raised ethical concerns in many Indian minds. Hundreds of couples visit India every year to undergo IVF in Raipur.

More than 3,000 fertility clinics operate across India, and some can be quite flashy. Surrogacy Laws in India are also undergoing an immense change lately. The Union of India is taking steps to position India as a legally risk-free destination when it comes to international surrogacy arrangements. 

The Indian Government is implementing legal mechanisms to ensure that the child born out of surrogacy arrangement in India would have a safe passage back home. Though such measures have affected few nationals, it could be considered legally safe in the long run for surrogacy in India.

The measures, circulated to Indian missions abroad in late 2012, which only came to light in the Indian media on Friday, mark the first step to the regulation of "surrogacy tourism" in India.

The cost factor has made India a favourite destination for medical tourism, especially the quest for a child. The low cost surrogacy has attracted lot of infertile couples from globe to India. Surrogacy in India is an attractive option for couples who wish to have their names on the birth certificate; want to have a professional or limited relationship with their surrogate, but have the benefit of excellent healthcare. Surrogates in India have no parental rights and cannot change their mind about handing over a child to the intended parents.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

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Surrogacy and Singles in India


India has issued new rules barring foreign gay couples and single people from using surrogate mothers to become parents in the proposed Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill 2013 that aims to regulate surrogacy in India. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from gay rights advocates and fertility clinics in Raipur.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), according to the guidelines of July 9, 2012, restricted surrogacy to foreign nationals; i.e. a man and a woman married for at least two years would be required to take a medical visa for surrogacy in India. As of now, even though surrogacy is an administrative concern and in the domain of the MoHFW, it has been decided that till the enactment of a law on the ART Bill, 2013, the guidelines issued by the MHA will prevail till then. Hence, foreign single parent surrogacy is barren.

It was in 2012, when the home ministry debarred gay couples and single foreigners from having an Indian surrogate bear their child as only a foreign “man and woman” married at least two years will be granted visas.
Since then, IVF in Raipur and Surrogacy in Raipur is practiced according to the MHA guidelines.

In March 2014, departments and ministries of the Government of India reviewed the drafted Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2013 (ART Bill).

After revision, the decision to restrict surrogacy in India to “infertile Indian married couples” only, was taken with a belief that it would prevent exploitation of Indian women who may be pushed to take the risk of surrogacy in the face of financial hardships.

This decision came after extensive public debate across the country involving all stake holders about the unregulated surrogacy sector in India. According to the guidelines of 2005, there was no legal bar for the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) by a single or an unmarried woman, and the child born would have legal rights on the woman or man concerned.

Thereafter, the draft ART Bills of 2008, 2010 and 2013, stated to be revised based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Law and Justice, have consistently proposed that ART in India.

The draft Bill 2013, an exhaustive document containing 100 sections addressing various issues relating to ART. The details are kept ‘secret’.
Restricting surrogacy to infertile Indian married couples only, and debarring all foreigners other than OCIs, PIOs and NRI married couples, is a turnaround in the thought process. The suggestion barring foreigners from commissioning surrogacy in India is stated to be subject to there being no conflict with other Indian laws applicable to foreigners, such as those for adoption. Many singles parents visit every year to Pahlajani IVF Clinic to undergo IVF in Raipur

The medical technology, advancement of science permitting free export of frozen embryos and other scientific methods have offered hopes to childless people. But attempts to shut out surrogacy for foreign nationalsand single persons, who have tied their hopes with India doctors and even to seek IVF in Raipur, may not be the ideal way to stamp out the hopes of persons wishing to be a parent.


Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Thursday, 25 September 2014

What is Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2013?

Commercial surrogacy is practiced in India, where the surrogate mother agrees to carry a pregnancy to term for a fee for commissioning couples. A study conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the year 2012 revealed that the surrogacy sector is worth $2 billion, despite being completely unregulated.

After regular attempts to regulate the surrogacy sector in India, an Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2013—an attempt by India to regulate commercial surrogacy—is likely to be presented to the cabinet on Thursday before being introduced in Parliament.

After making necessary modifications in the earlier versions of the bill passed in 2008 and 2010, the cabinet approved it with the vetting from Law Ministry and Planning Commission.

-       The Bill addresses all issues pertaining to ethics in commercial surrogacy.
-       The Bill is only to help infertile couples and should act as a deterrent to commercial surrogacy.

The CII study estimated that nearly 10,000 foreign couples visit India for reproductive services and nearly 30% are either single or homosexual.

-        However, the Surrogacy Bill will disqualify homosexual couples, foreign single individuals and couples in live-in relationships from having children through surrogate mothers in India. The law also imposes age restrictions on surrogate mothers.
-        Homosexuals and foreign single individuals are barred from seeking surrogacy assistance in India.
-       Other than this, many restrictions imposed are not encouraging for business.

In earlier versions—in 2008 and 2010—the ART Bill relied on contract law to establish a relationship between the commissioning parents and the clinic. In the current version, the Bill states that a professional surrogate will be hired by a government-recognized ART Bank and not private fertility clinics, the current practice.
-         The compensation, as per the 2013 draft, will be a private negotiation between the surrogate mother and commissioning parents. Currently, IVF clinics decide the amount and pay the surrogate mother a portion. 

Last year, Home Ministry laid down certain norms on surrogacy as an immediate attempt to define the contours of surrogacy activities in India,

-        Home Ministry lays down conditions for grant of visa to foreign couples commissioning surrogacy in India
-        Home Ministry has already announced that it will not give tourist visas to foreigner nationals coming to India for commissioning surrogacy, of which several cases have been reported.
-        In order to ensure that the surrogate mother’s interests are protected, the Ministry said, such a visa may only be granted if certain conditions are fulfilled — the foreign man and woman must be duly married for at least two years.
-         The Ministry will also insist that the Indian embassy or Foreign Ministry of the country concerned enclose an acknowledgement, along with the visa application, that the country recognises surrogacy and that the child/children to be born to the commissioning couple through the Indian surrogate mother will be permitted entry into their country as a biological child/children of the couple.
-        Besides, the couple should produce a duly notarised agreement between the applicant couple and the prospective Indian surrogate mother. The Ministry has informed the Indian missions abroad that the commissioning couple needs to be told that they must obtain “exit” permission from the Foreign Regional Registration Offices before leaving India for their return journey.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

For surrogacy assistance visit our website – www.raipurivf.com


Wednesday, 24 September 2014

India to Regularise Surrogacy Soon


After rounds of discussion with various ministries, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Bill, 2013 has been cleared and will be presented before Union Cabinet during winter session of 2014, confirmed a senior health ministry official on September 22. The decision comes closely after the regularisation and legal framework of Surrogacy in India was debated. The undeniable fact about several illegal ART units cropping up across the country to shortchange the infertile couples gives a reason for the urgent need of passing the bill.

According to V M Katoch, Secretary (Health Research), the bill to regulate Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is likely to be introduced in winter session of parliament. He said that Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has been going through the draft and presentation of the bill. The news has come as a great relief for patients and doctors as well.

The recent Thailand controversy has brought the infertility clinics across the globe under scanner. Throughout the years, surrogacy in India remained unregulated but the day bill was cleared in cabinet it gave hopes to hundreds and hundreds people in India as well as overseas. It was a time between the years 2008 and 2013, when surrogacy practice in India was questioned under the heads of social and ethical issues.

Considering the fact that growing surrogacy tourism in India and increase in number of patients from overseas to commission surrogacy due to low cost surrogacy in India, the surrogacy sector needed to be regularised. In India, the practice of commercial surrogacy started in the year 2002. Twelve years after the specialists gave birth to thousands of babies through this process, still the controversy about commercialisation denies dying. Surrogacy was commercialised for equal opportunity to surrogate mothers to support their families with the money they get. However, the tales about exploitation of women in the name of surrogacy have grabbed the headlines every now and then. 

With the regularisation of surrogacy, there would be an end to certain illegal practices, which has been tainting the surrogacy practice in India. This signals the efforts of government to safeguard the rights of commissioning parents and surrogates.

Indian Government has also chalked out certain guidelines on surrogacy to make the whole process transparent and allow to hitches. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Bill, 2013 seeks to address issues like number of pregnancies allowed to a surrogate mother, age limit and due compensation paid to the surrogates. A framework would be designed for foreigners to seek surrogacy help from India surrogate mothers. With this, the issues of consent and health of surrogate mother would also be resolved.

The Health Ministry has considered the fact that commercial surrogacy changes to biological ability of a woman to reproduce into a commercial activity when money transaction is involved and lack of proper legal framework further complicated the whole process. 

Therefore, an immediate need of strong legal provisions to safeguard the interest of the surrogate mother, commissioning parents and the child born through surrogacy process has been considered.

For more details visit website – www.raipurivf.com



Dr Neeraj Pahlajani

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

Life of Surrogates at Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Center


Referring to one of the news publishing about social activists demanding to ban commercial surrogacy and to regularise it like egg donation. In the article, the data of three states are cited in reference to illiteracy, poverty and unemployment of women, who are mostly unaware of the contract terms and agree to become a surrogate mother mainly for funding the education of their children.

However, the scenario is different for women agreeing to assist infertile couples for surrogacy in Raipur. Although, Chhattisgarh has high women illiteracy rate but women who agree to become surrogate mothers for interfile couples at 

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Center are given best understanding of the contract to ensure transparency and safeguard of the rights of both surrogate and infertile couple. 

To ensure that a surrogate does not feel exploited, a better understanding of her expectations from the process is taken. Considering that surrogacy is “commercial” in India, the balance in cost of surrogacy in India and remuneration to the surrogate mother is maintained.

At Pahlajani Surrogacy Care, the surrogates are kept under best medical care. They live in an environment of peace and sisterhood under the roof of Pahlajani Surrogacy Home, where they are given best medical assistance.
Indian surrogacy is often targeted about the authenticity of contract signed between commissioning parents and surrogates. The fact cannot be denied that there are several clinics which do not adhere to the provisions of remunerations. However, Pahlajani Surrogacy Care ensures that the rights of a surrogate, who is assisting a childless couple to complete their family.

Pahlajani Test Tube Baby Center is the only center in Chhattisgarh having an in-house embryologist and does not conduct IVF/ICSI in batches. With the number of successes in helping the childless couples in having their babies by providing best medical assistance to both surrogate and commissioning couple, we have climbed another step in the ladder of human connection. Knowing that giving birth for someone else is a job only a selfless human being with most giving heart can perform, Pahlajani Surrogacy Care derives its confidence from surrogates for showing their faith and performing commendable jobs for couples.

Along with the celebration of different festivals with the surrogates, we celebrate Mother’s Day, Women’s Day and even organise plantation drives for surrogates. Surrogates are made to feel like home in our surrogacy homes. The reports about the violation of laws and shortchanging the surrogates are baffling. Rights of surrogates should be safeguarded and they should be given best medical care.

Dr Neeraj Pahlajani




Monday, 8 September 2014

Citizenship of Children Born through an Indian Surrogate


On September 4, the Apex Court of India took the issue of citizenship of child born in the country out of surrogacy in which biological parents are foreign nationals but birth mother is Indian. The next hearing is scheduled for the month of November. Till then, dual citizenship for surrogate children born in certain circumstances is being considered.

A few days back, series of surrogacy scandals lifted a lid on Thailand's largely unregulated commercial surrogacy industry, which is an undeniable reason behind vigilance on surrogacy activities in India.

Because India does not offer dual citizenship, the children will have to convert to Overseas Citizenship of India if they also hold non-Indian citizenship.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has given Guidelines regulating Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures. According to one of the seven guidelines, the foreign couple undergoing surrogacy in India would require ‘exit’ permission before their return journey from India and would need to carry a certificate from concerned ART clinic regarding the fact that child/children have been duly taken custody by the foreign couple and the liabilities toward the India surrogate mother are fully discharged as per agreement. A copy of birth certificate(s) of surrogate child/children will be retained by Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO)/Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) along with photocopies of the passport and VISA of the foreign parents.

In India, the babies born through surrogacy are born stateless. This means they are not given Indian citizenship by virtue of the fact they were born in India. Prior to starting surrogacy treatment it is essential that all intended parents consult the embassy of their country to ensure they are able to get citizenship of their country for baby, which another guideline of ICMR.

However, from years and years, India is known the best infertility treatment in India. After the year 2002, India grabbed attention of couples from round the world to undergo IVF treatment. With facilities of low cost IVF in India, egg donors in India and best infertility treatment in India, the medical tourism in India has taken new leaps. Though India has been criticised for unregulated surrogacy sector, but there are clinics like Pahlajani Surrogacy Center in Raipur that has assisted a number of couples from India as well as overseas with infertility treatment. It is known for the high success rate of IVF and surrogacy in Raipur.

To read our success stories, visit our website – www.raipurivf.com


Dr Neeraj Pahlajani